


What We're Made Of

by krakenking



Category: Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Domestic Violence, Gen, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2018-04-25 19:49:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 39
Words: 112,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4973803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/krakenking/pseuds/krakenking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A group of War Girls with different pasts work together (sometimes) to reach their goals.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Saga of the Engine Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> idk, I'm posting with no set schedule cos of school. All I'm saying is that I plan for this to be p long and that there will be relationships building up, but I'm really new to ao3 (using it, I've been here reading for years, but finally decided to join) so I'll figure out how this should be tagged and stuff later I guess.
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!

The feeling of small objects pelting her head made Torque scowl and look behind her, ready to tell whomever it was off. Seeing absolutely no one, she hesitantly went back to repairing the engine currently on the table in her workspace after picking up the various bolts and washers that had been thrown at her. There was something wrong with this engine, but she wasn’t quite sure what. It had been brought to her by a couple of War Boys who stated that it was making a strange sound and had started smoking when they tried multiple times to start their car up. 

She had rolled her eyes at them and made them show her, sensing that this was some sort of joke. However, when they did, she witnessed herself that yes, the engine indeed was making some sort of wheezing sound and smoke almost immediately starting flowing from underneath the hood. 

“Fuck, okay, turn it off, turn it off!” She had yelled at them and they all laughed at her, albeit nervously after she crossed her arms, wrench in hand. She didn’t have time for this and the Boys could sense her agitation. On a normal day they would keep provoking it, but the look on her face made them realize that right now was not a good time to fool around. 

After taking the engine off their hands she had scurried back to her workspace and had gotten right to work, meticulously searching for the problem. She needed to hurry up and get to the meeting she and her friends were having to discuss their next move. She also needed to go alone, proving them all wrong that she and her twin, Harker, could do things separately without needing to be together 24/7. 

Which unfortunately was sort of untrue. Without Harker, Torque always felt slightly uncomfortable, vulnerable even. Harker admitted long ago that she felt the same way. But to win the bet their friends had set, they needed to get over it and spend an entire day, a solid 24 hours, far apart from each other. The twins had pleaded not to do it, but the winnings were too good to pass up. So therefore, Torque had been on her own for the past 21 and a half hours, not that she had been keeping track. The 24th hour was quickly approaching and she was feeling pretty good about them winning the bet. 

The plan was that Harker and Torque would arrive separately and collect their winnings: A couple of bottles of rotgut, a small box full of supplies, extra rations of food and water, and more importantly, each club member’s favorite trinket, whether it be a tool or a worthless piece of metal that meant something to the person who gave it up. 

Another round of small objects hit the back of her head and she immediately knew who it was now. No, she would have to ignore it. Harker was not going to ruin this, Harker had better not fucking show her face-

“Tori, Torquey, Torrrr, I gotta tell ya something.”

Torque looked up into the rafters, and sure enough, Harker was wrapped up in suspended wires, giggling as she threw the last of the nuggets in her hands down at Torque. 

“Harker! Get out of here, we’re gonna lose the bet!”

“No we ain’t, there’s no one around here to tell Vic or Caliper otherwise!” Harker swung down from her little nest she had made for herself and rolled when she hit the ground, springing up in front of her twin. Torque glowered as she crossed her arms, frustrated about her sister showing up so close to the bet deadline. 

“Oh come on, Tori. I swears, no one around here, just us. I checked before I started bothering ya,” Harker mimicked Torque’s body language loosely, a shit eating grin on her face. Whatever it was that had her all excited was starting to rub off on Torque and she couldn’t stop her lips from curling up. 

“What’s this that's so important that you're willing to lose the bet, Har?” 

“I can’t tell ya yet until after the meeting,” Harker was practically bouncing up and down. 

“Harker,” Torque whined, dropping her arms to her sides. “You’ve gotta be kidding me, tell me now!”

“Nuh uh. If I tell ya then the others will know I was around you within the last day, and we would lose the bet! But I couldn’t not tell ya ‘cause that would be unfair, however-”

Torque waved her sister off, motioning to the doorway. “Ugh, fine I understand. Get out of here now before-”

“I knew it,” Another voice chimed in making the twins jump in surprise. 

“Oh fuck!” Torque and Harker yelped in unison as they grabbed each other’s arms. This was going to end badly for them, they just knew it. 

“Youse little girls are just joined at the hip, aren’t ya?” A lanky War Girl was leaning against the doorway of Torque’s workspace, a smug look on her scarred face. She walked over nonchalant like, hands in her pockets, taking satisfaction in the twins cowering before her. “‘s real cute.”

“Please don’t tell Victoria or Caliper, Travesty!” Torque pleaded while Harker nodded furiously, agreeing with her. “We didn’t mean it!”

“Yeah, it was my fault, I sought her out, but-”

“But nothing, Harks. Gotta stick to the rules, mate. Everythin’ is reported to Vicky and Cali, ain’t no keeping a single damn thing from them,” Tavesty put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side, still smirking down at them. “Would be unfair if I broke the rules, don’t ya think?” 

Harker started protested first, hiding behind Torque, who didn’t quite appreciate being pushed towards the other War Girl. “Trav, we’ll do anything-”

“Yeah, anything!”

“Just don’t tell them!”

“We’re so close too, just this once!”

Travesty held her hands up, offering a gentle smile at them. “Girls, girls, girls. Girls. Calm down. I won’t tell ‘em. Promise. Youse just gotta make a little deal with me, and we’ll forget all about this, yeh?”

The twins exchanged looks with each other, having a private conversation with their eyes and expressions that Travesty could not interpret. Finally, Torque sighed as she rolled her eyes and looked back at the girl attempting to blackmail them. Travesty gave them both a knowing smile and waited for her answer. 

“Yeah, okay. What’d’ya want?”

Travesty had an infuriatingly innocent look about her, creating an uneasy atmosphere with the twins. “Everythin’. ‘Cept for the rotgut, I can’t stand that shit.”

“What?” Harker yelled, stepping up. “No way, we ain’t doing that! ‘s not fair, Travesty! ‘s all ours!”

“Harker,” Torque grabbed her sister’s shoulder to hold her back and eyed Travesty carefully, calculating what exactly should be said and how in order to get themselves out of this situation. Either way, she didn’t trust Travesty to keep this quiet, so they had lost no matter what. “It’s okay. She’ll only get everything if she doesn’t rat us out.”

That made Travesty frown as she thought through her options. If she told Caliper and Victoria that the Twins had lost the bet, they would null the bet, leaving Travesty with nothing to gain. If she didn’t tell them and they found out (they always found out), then she would lose her part of the deal too. However...

“Oh shoot, youse got me there. Guess I’ll have to stay quiet then don’t I? Although, it would be a cryin’ shame if either of ya let this slip during our drinking session tonight, wouldn’t it?”

Torque and Harker froze, falling for the bluff. 

“Shit.”

“Then we just don’t drink!” Harker exclaimed, confident in herself. Torque didn’t look convinced.

“You kidding me? If we don’t drink everyone’s gonna know something’s up!”

“That’s your fault, Tori!”

“Me? I don’t drink half as much as you!”

“You liar, you couldn’t stand just drinking three bottles, you gotta drink like, six o’them!”

“And you drink like twelve!”

“No one can drink twelve bottles of fucking rotgut, are ya crazy, Tor?” 

The twins were beginning to turn on each other, their hands balling into fists, getting in each other faces, giving Travesty satisfaction in the drama she had created between them. It was a well known fact that when these two got drunk, secrets were spilled, rather embarrassingly easy. 

“Look, I’ll give youse a solution to our li’l predicament.”

The twins glared at the other War Girl simultaneously, their heads moving so fast it took a second for Travesty to register that they had heard her. No matter how often they did something in sync with each other, it would always throw her off as she couldn’t get used to two people being almost the same person. She quickly gathered her bearings and continued.

“All of us are going to tell Vicky and Cali. That way, no one has to deal with the guilt. Then we’ll set up another day with the same bet, with everyone knowing that I’ll get something out of it as well. They don’t have to know what I get, they’ll just know that I get something, and that’s gonna be enough for them to settle. If ya spill anything tonight, everything will be in the open, ain’t gonna be a problem. Got it?”

She watched them side eye the other and slowly nod. 

“Yeh, sounds good. But can we at least keep some sorta trinket?” Harker asked quietly. 

“Like a tool, or maybe even a canteen of aqua cola?” Torque added.

Considering the options given seriously, Travesty decided what would be best. As much as she liked profiting off other people, it would be okay if she was down one canteen. “I can do the aqua cola. Everything else, ‘cept for the rotgut as discussed before, is mine.”

“Okay,” the twins murmured, defeated. It almost made Travesty feel bad. Almost. 

“At least next time youse little girls will have learned yer lesson and we won’t have to make a deal like this in the future, right?”

“Righto.”

“Lovely. Now stop answering at the same time, I hate that. ‘s unnatural that is.”

“Sorry.” They even shrugged the same way at the same time too, what the fuck.

Travesty sighed heavily and turned to leave, on her way to do whatever it was that she did in her free time. 

“Oh, and by the way, Harks. You suck at checking your blindspots. ‘s a damn good thing you’re not a driver.”


	2. Saga of the Engine Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Torque and Harker go to find trouble and end up enjoying it a bit too much probably.

Once the other War Girl left, Torque and Harker looked each other, unsure of what to say. It was Harker who opened up her arms inviting Torque in for a hug, which she gladly accepted. 

“I’m sorry Tor, this was my fault. I thought the coast was clear! I swears I didn’t see her, otherwise I wouldn’t have shown myself.”

“This wasn’t yer fault Harker, It’s Travesty’s. She followed you, keeping to the shadows like the creep she is. Nasty li’l bugger isn’t she?” Torque huffed, feeling more annoyed and agitated than anything else. She broke away from Harker, deciding to be productive and fix this shitty engine in a timely manner so that she could return it to the Boys before the meeting. 

“Since the bet is off, mind helping me out? Couple’a Boys gave this to me to fix, but I can’t find anything,” Torque called over her shoulder, putting her goggles back on. 

“What’s wrong with it?” Harker jogged over to her sister, taking out her own pair of goggles from one of the many pockets on her pants to put them on.

“I dunno, that’s the problem. Usually would be done by now but everything seems to check out,” Torque quickly explained what happened and then moved away from the engine so that Harker could take a closer look. She was more thorough than Torque, but not as fast, therefore it was easier for Torque to fix stuff up and then give it Harker to correct any mistakes, if any. Torque usually had a 70 percent success rate, but it seemed this would be a negative experience for her. 

“Do you know the make and model of the car?” Harker began to scan it, using her fingers to pick out any distortions her eyes couldn’t catch right away.

“I dunno, I’m good at repairing things, but I couldn’t tell ya what the car is. We literally just started doing this car thing just under a year ago.”

“Maybe if ya joined me and my polecat friends back in Gastown-”

“I don’t like heights, Harker, you know that.”

“Yeah, I know, but that doesn’t stop ya from driving up sand dunes and jumping off of them.”

“I only do that when ya piss me off.”

Harker looked up, pulling her goggles off, a look of disbelief on her face. “Wait, all those times you’ve been trying to throw me off of the fucking car?”

“...maybe.”

They had a stare down until Harker finally turned her attention back to the problem at hand. “Well, the engine is relatively small, so it must be one of the smaller pursuit vehicles.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right," Harker rubbed her arm, feeling a little anxious. Time was running out and they really needed to get this engine back to the Boys.

After 15 to 20 minutes later, Harker shook her head. “Huh. I dunno what’s wrong with it either. And they showed you, yeh?” She was still inspecting it, but it was obvious the engine was completely intact.

“I made them turn on the car and everything!”

“Then have them show me. I bet I know what those smegs did. If they did what I think they did then this has been a complete waste of yer time, Tor.”

“Fucking fantastic then, mate. Come on, I dunno their names but I know their faces. Distinct facial markings on the bigger of the three, the other two probably won’t be far behind.”

Harker offered to haul the engine while Torque stormed off ahead, determined to fight these losers that dare take up precious time from her. She led her sister down to the repairs bay and immediately found the Boys chatting amongst themselves. The bigger of the three was facing the twins and when he looked up to see who was standing there near them, he gasped, alerting the other two to the Girls’ presence. 

“Hello, Boys. Harker here wants to see what’s going on with yer car. Now I’m a good Black Thumb, but my eyesight isn’t as good as hers, so she’s gonna double check everything, but she doesn’t believe yer story for some odd reason,” Torque tried to be as pleasant as she could be, not wanting to cause trouble right away, despite how pissed off she was. No need to pull out her wrench just yet.

The three Boys were hesitant to move, so Harker piped up. “Or ya know, I could just drop this and cause some more damage to this pretty little engine. Would be too bad if yer car was useless, wouldn’t it?”

“We can just get another one,” The biggest one scoffed. The two others nodded in agreement. “‘Sides, that’s not even what’s wrong with the car.”

“Oh really? Then Torque here really was working on the engine for nothing then, huh? Shame you told her that was the problem,” The twins grinned, clearly enjoying the uncomfortable situation they put the Boys in. Small beads of sweat were forming on their foreheads, giving away their nervousness. This must be what Travesty felt like every time she made a deal. And it felt amazing. If they were terrible people, they would probably do this more often.

“No we didn’t!”

“Yeah? Then why did ya come to me carrying it, shoving it into my arms? Ya filthy animals, I was ready to help ya out, but guess what,” Torque took a step forward, happy to see them shrink back a little. Unfortunately they were cornered in their spot, surrounded by tires and walls. “If ya can easily obtain a new one, then ya clearly don’t need this one.”

“Wait, what?”

“That’s right Torque, we are in need of a new engine, and by the looks of it, it seems that their car is mostly identical to ours. A few switches here and there and we can finally replace our old scrappy one.”

“And it would actually be worth my time to do so,” Torque answered, narrowing her eyes. While she was confident in threatening the Boys with taking their engine, they seemed to be getting really angry, their fear turning into rage, a response most cornered Boys had. This situation was turning dangerous fast as the twins were outnumbered, even if they did have them stuck in a corner with nowhere to go. 

“That’s our engine!”

“And it was my time ya bloody bogans wasted! As payment, this is what I want!”

Torque and Harker held their ground as long as they could before Torque sensed the Boys had had enough of Girls trying to intimidate them into submission. With a flick of her wrist, Torque made the retreat signal and they bolted with the Boys right on their heels, yelling and screaming about giving them back their engine. If they could lure the Boys near the room the War Girls met at, then their backup could easily protect them and keep these smegs in their place. 

Pushing and bumping their way through the Citadel, the twins rushed to safety, laughing and calling the Boys names. This was more fun than they had anticipated, but they were losing ground, and fast.

Torque glanced at her sister. It was good she was mostly the Lancer in their relationship because if Torque had been carrying that engine for this long, and then had to run with it, they would have had to abandon it long ago to save their asses. Her arms were not as built as Harker’s. But that didn’t mean that Harker didn’t need help at all; she was starting to slow down and she looked ready to give up. Torque herself was feeling the bumps on her neck start to bite down, so she quickly made up her mind about what to do. As they rounded a corner, Torque told Harker to keep going for a bit so that she could give her sister a chance to catch her breath while she held back the pursuers. Harker obliged, knowing fully well that Torque would be able to hold them off for a decent enough of time. 

The sounds of approaching running footsteps closed in on Torque as she planned her attack. There wasn’t much she could do, and she didn’t exactly have a whole lot of options weapons wise. She also couldn’t just flat out kill her own brothers in arms, as much as she wanted to. Of course, this wasn’t the best survival strategy to have, but it just didn’t seem right. War Boys had been slaves their whole lives in a different way, told to die for the Immortan without asking questions, looking up to a man who was disgusting to say the least. But right now wasn't the best time to dwell on ethics. Taking out her trusty wrench, she waited for her opportunity, which didn’t take very long as the first Boy, the big one with the facial scars, reached the corner first, a predatory look on his face.

Torque was a name she took on after realizing her fighting style had a lot of twists and turns, each bouncing off one another, based on momentum. It helped her dodge punches and kicks, and with the speed she built up while spinning, she could easily take down people twice her size in very few swings. Therefore, when the first Boy saw her, she was already in the middle of a spin, taking him off guard as she kicked him in the stomach. He landed hard against the the wall, hitting his head and he slumped to the ground. Unfortunately he was still conscious, just a little dazed.

He would have to wait as the other two tried to tackle her. Ducking under them, she watched, delighted to see them collide with each other in the process. For War Boys, they sucked at fighting and catching others off guard. As they scrambled to get back up, she saw a great chance to knock them out at once as they were lined up perfectly. She spun again and landed her wrench on the side of one of them, then spun in the opposite direction to hit the other. She watched, satisfied with her efforts as they both groaned and landed in a heap, either too stunned to react further or knocked out.

Suddenly, she was lifted off of the ground, strong arms restraining her. The attack made her accidentally drop her wrench to the ground leaving her mostly defenseless. Torque struggled against the large War Boy but he wasn’t letting go anytime soon. 

“Where’d your sister go?” He asked, squeezing her tighter. She could hear the sneer in his voice. It was sickening and she didn’t like the position she was in. She felt way too vulnerable and for an instant she wished Harker was there to save her.

“None of yer business!”

“Like Hel it ain’t. That’s our engine ya took!”

“And yer fucking prank backfired, ya dick!” Torque swung her legs out and brought them back, kicking him as hard as she could against his shins. He buckled, but didn’t fall. She tried again, but he kept his distance from her by holding her more up, angling her back so that it was almost impossible to reach him. So she did the next best thing which honestly, for a War Boy, he should’ve seen coming. 

She bit his arm and shook her head from side to side, tearing open the skin and making the War Boy scream in agony as she kept biting down to the muscle. He promptly dropped her and she took off after snatching up her wrench, praying to V8 that none of them would follow her. 

Luckily, she caught up with Harker and the two of them continued on their way to the meeting place, high-fiving each other and giggling as they ran. Torque still had blood around her mouth and on her teeth and she knew her sister was dying to ask, but the adrenaline still running through their bodies made it difficult to have a decent conversation. 

The twins smacked right into Caliper as they weren’t exactly looking where they were going, paranoid about the possibility of the Boys still trailing them. She was the one guarding the entrance this time, making sure only the members of their crew were getting in. She didn’t even budge when they hit her, just sighed heavily, however she was interested as to why they had an engine with them. 

The twins stumbled backwards and Torque watched in horror as Harker’s arms finally gave out and the precious new machinery flew out of her hands, dropping to the floor with a loud thud. Both of them cringed and avoided Caliper’s curious gaze. Torque got up to inspect the engine, very, very upset at the possibility of it being busted and they would have fought for it for basically more hard work. 

“Do you need help, Torque?” Caliper asked, breaking the tension. She still hadn’t moved, but she did look concerned for the twins. Torque was making weird wheezing noises as she recovered and Harker was a little wobbly after hauling the heavy machinery the entire way.

“No, no. Think we’re good. It’s sustained a few bumps, but it's nothing I can’t fix.” Torque finally managed as she delicately picked up the engine and cradled in her arms, like the way the Milking Mothers did with their mummified children. Harker slowly got up too and asked through a glance if it was really okay. Her sister nodded and gave a small smile, reassuring her that it was indeed something they could fix together without any problems.

“Do you mind me asking what happened?” Caliper was amused by the way Torque was treating the engine, finding it to be hilarious that she would treat a piece of machinery the way other women would treat a babe. But in a way she understood why. 

“Tori was being punked by some Boys and we went to confront them about it. Out of payment for wasting her time she told them we were keeping the engine. They didn’t like that-”

“-so they chased us-”

“-but Tori took them down easily!”

“They were awful, ‘specially the big guy.”

“So what’s with the blood, Torque?” Caliper interrupted before the twins got too excited and riled up about their recent adventure. She motioned to her face and Torque grinned, pride swelling in her chest so much, it felt ready to burst.

“I bit the big guy in the arm. He had me in his grip and I couldn’t get out of it any other way, so I did the next best thing. He’s gonna be seeing Organic today for sure, I think I tore some muscle.”

“Nice one!” Harker threw herself onto Torque, giving her a huge hug and the two were giggling to the point it was beginning to annoy Caliper. 

“Alright, congrats on biting that wanker. Now get in there, Vic wants to talk to everyone about strength in numbers. Travesty’s been causing a ruckus amongst us. Holds different views from Vic, wants to make her own group. Vic thinks that’s a bad idea. Can’t say I don’t agree with her,” Caliper shrugged.

“Travesty?” The twins asked.

“Yeah, but she’s always butting heads with Vic. You know her.”

“We don’t like her.”

“And that’s fair. She’s already been by to let us know you two lost the bet.”

“It wasn’t fair! I had something important to tell Tori!”

“And I need to know what it is!”

“Alright, alright. We’ll talk later. Now move.” Caliper shoved the twins inside the entrance and blocked it again before they could do anything. Torque was still cradling the engine and it dawned on her how silly it was to have brought it all the way here. It would be a hassle now to say the least to bring it back to her workspace and lock it up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I caved and wanted to post this part cos I love it ok. A lot of this is prewritten, so  
> Also, what about postings every Saturday and Wednesday unless I can't? How about that. You can fight me on this, but I don't think you'd win. Unless that was the plan, then u know what, screw u


	3. Sisters in Arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Travesty ruins everything again, but has a fairly good reason to.

Most of everyone in their club was there, in their own little groups talking to each other about nothing in particular while they waited for the meeting to start. The only people missing were Mirage and Shelby, but that was expected. They probably either forgot or were too busy messing around with each other to mind the time. 

Victoria, who usually preferred to go by Vic, was up front, overlooking everyone from her rock formation perch. She was their leader, a replacement figure for Immortan Joe, as he was not someone they were fanatical about. Most of them knew the horrors the man could conjure up and had put them through, but they also knew he was mortal. Eventually his reign would come to an end, and they knew better than to view him as a God, usually just referred to him as Joe or Old Joey. He may be their overarching dictator, but Vic, much like Furiosa, knew how to work the system to their advantage. 

However, unlike Furiosa, Vic had no desire to be in close proximity to Immortan Joe, no desire to be an Imperator, and no desire to be near the current Wives. She would welcome those who were cast out just like she was, but she felt it was too dangerous to try and communicate with them for her own personal reasons. She was not as willing to take risks like Furiosa was doing now by working her way up the ranks to prove herself to the Immortan, and Vic liked the invisibility she had amongst the War Boys. 

Torque and Harker especially admired her. After their “trial” with the Immortan, that ended in them being cast out after Torque developed her first tumor, Vic was the one who rushed to them and took them under her wing, keeping them safe from leering Boys and Imperators. She taught them how to be War Boys, but offered them the term War Girls once they became a part of her small club, which consisted of Travesty, Viper, and Savvy at the time. Being a War Girl meant that you didn’t have to be one of the Boys to be a part of this world. If you can survive this, you can survive anything, and you don’t necessarily need to be a War Boy to do so. That stuck with them for a long time, and it was a saying they repeated to each other and themselves when times got tough within the Citadel. 

They took their places next to Vic’s lancer, Savvy, a quiet girl who held her legs tightly to her chest as she stared intently at the ground, and sat down, their excitement settling down for the moment. Vic caught their eyes and nodded, then returned to scanning everyone, waiting for Shelby and Mirage to join them. It was imperative that everyone be here at once. She did not want to have to repeat herself. This was serious business as Travesty could break up the group quite easily, and she didn’t like that. Not a bit. She was willing to make changes, but splitting was not an option. Not during this time, unless Travesty had a damn good reason to be leaving.

At last, Shelby and Mirage came in one after the other with Caliper following behind them, closing the entrance off. They had been freshly painted, which could really only mean one thing, and the twins couldn’t hide their smug expressions. It was only a matter of time, really. Shelby and Mirage sat down behind the twins, ignoring their taunts. 

“Looking whiter than usual, ladies.”

“Harker, don’t be an asshole about it. ‘Sides, it was bound to happen soon anyways.”

“Too bad we didn’t make a bet about this.”

“Wouldn’t have been worth it, we knew they were gonna do something about their feelings. The real question is who started it.” 

The twins looked expectantly at the two War Girls who refused to acknowledge them, but Shelby had a small smile on her face. Harker took advantage of this by casually sliding closer to her. 

“Come on, Shell, you can tell us,” she said, wanting to coax the details out.

“Yeah, Shelby, did you start it or did Mira?”

“Shut it,” Mirage snapped. What they did in their free time was none of the twins’ business. And it was embarrassing her completely anyways. She was glad that she had a fresh coat of opaque paint on because she was sure her face was burning bright red.

“Aw, Mira, it’s okay, we all get feelings for other people at some point.”

“Tori’s right, it’s not soft at all.”

Mirage looked ready to punch the twins’ grins off their faces, but they were all interrupted by Vic’s voice ringing through the room.

“War Girls! Sisters in arms!” Vic raised her fist high in the air, a determined look on her face. 

“Sisters in arms!” Everyone responded in return, copying her hand motion. 

“I welcome you all back to our wonderful little clan meeting. Usually this would be quick and simple, a head count and quick debriefing, but today,” Vic paused, making sure all of them were listening. “Today, we’re gonna have a little talk about sticking together.”

Travesty sighed loudly and deliberately, knowing fully well that she was going to be singled out. It wasn’t really fair in her opinion. She had arrived shortly after Victoria did, and the two had basically fought ever since then. Both of them were fierce leaders, but Vics honesty helped her stay on top. Despite Vic’s pleas to Travesty to be her co-captain, that wasn’t good enough for her. 

“Travesty, please, let’s be civil. This is a very serious matter that requires everyone’s attention-”

“You’re just upset that I want to break off from the rest of youse!” Travesty spat. 

“No, that’s not it at all, Trav. I’m just worried about everyone’s safety.”

“Ain’t said I would be going alone, now, did I?” Travesty held her head high. “Ladies?”

Mirage, Shelby, Lexus, and Viper all stood up. Shelby was the most reluctant of all of them to show her allegiance; she must’ve been recruited based on Mirage joining Travesty’s side. 

Mirage spoke up first, unafraid to speak against Vic. “We stand with Travesty and her views. We feel it to be our responsibility to show the women in Joe’s ‘care’ that there is hope.”

“This is hope?” Savvy scoffed. She was the most bitter about how her life turned out and she never kept that hidden. “Being cast out? Can’t be a Milking Mother, can’t be a prized breeder, can't exactly be a bloodbag, so we become one of the Boys? Who, by the way, think we’re practically below dirt for not being good enough for their beloved Immortan.”

“Better than being thrown out to the Wretched and living that life or being cast from the Citadel all together. Or even better, we could have been killed,” came Travesty’s cool reply. “At least here we have a steady supply of food, water, and shelter.”

Savvy narrowed her eyes, but didn’t continue. Her argument was continuously ignored by Travesty in favor of saying “it could be worse”. Of course it could be worse, but she didn’t enjoy having to put up with a bunch of bored, bloodthirsty War Boys in the name of survival. She returned her gaze to the ground and Travesty gave a small triumphant smile in her direction. 

Torque and Harker turned to each other, exchanging looks, only finding more reasons to hate Travesty. They scooted over to Savvy, Torque getting on one side of the upset girl, Harker on the other. Together, they rubbed their irritated friend’s back, comforting her the best they could without making things worse. 

“So why the sudden need to have your own group?” Vic asked calmly. No need to further divide anyone. Beside her, Caliper hopped up onto the perch, lending her silent support. 

“We still want to be a part of this,” Shelby said, scratching her arm, avoiding eye contact. “It’s just that-”

“We’re not exactly splitting, we’re just moving to a different part of the Citadel. To be closer to the Wives and to hopefully move up ranks, like Furiosa did,” Mirage finished for her. “She kept mentioning something about the Green Place. It sounds like something she could use some help with.”

Viper nodded in agreement while Lexus whispered something to Travesty. 

“This was a deal we all came up with to propose to you, Vicky. Like it or not, we want to help these women escape. I know it’s hard for you to hear and I know you can’t stand the guy, but this is important.”

Victoria didn’t say anything in retaliation. Right now she was just in the mood to listen, so she cocked her head to the side and waited for Travesty to continue.

“Don’t you remember what it was like being with ‘im? To be scared and terrified of what would happen when strike three came along? Or in the twins’ case, to suddenly become sick?”

“”s not my fault I have cancer,” Torque mumbled. Harker was about to stand up to defend her sister, but Torque shook her head. It wasn’t worth the effort at this time.

“I remember perfectly well, thank you Travesty. And you know what?” Victoria jumped down, walking steadily towards Travesty. The opposing War Girl shrank back a little, but stood her ground. Victoria had an unnerving ability to make anyone lose their confidence when she challenged them. “Maybe it is time to show these women that they have a potential future, far away from the Citadel. I’m sure Furiosa would like the extra help,” She extended a hand to Travesty’s shoulder, only to have it shaken off. 

“We just want to show ‘em that they can survive, just as we have, Vicky. Our lives suck, but we have education and we have an advantage over the Boys. We just need to help ‘em come up with a plan of escapin’,” Travesty’s expression softened. “Thought you of all people would want to do so, too.”

Victoria thought for a moment, but ended up shaking her head. “As much as that sounds good, I don’t know the outcomes, and you know I hate not knowing how things will come out.”

“’s ‘cause you get really scared to try sometimes, Victoria,” Travesty lifted Vic’s chin so that they were looking eye to eye. “Joe can’t hurt ya anymore than ‘e already has. I know ya hide from ‘im because ‘e still holds power over you. ’s time we took that away by facing ‘im.”

“I don’t want to see his face anymore than I already have to,” Victoria adverted her gaze, but didn’t move away from her rival. “It hurts too much to be reminded.”

“Then that’s why we gotta do it. Someone has to. Furiosa did it by ‘erself, but that’s ‘cause she’s been here longer than we have. You forget that I also came from the Green Place, too. We used to talk about our own escape plans in the vault where we would run away together. We have the chance to help others. You’re always welcome to join us at anytime. Together ‘til the end, remember?”

Caliper shifted uncomfortably in the background. 

Vic gave a weak nod and didn’t flinch when Travesty placed a delicate kiss to her forehead. “Together ‘til the end.”

She pulled away and walked back over to Caliper. The room was silent while Vic analyzed all the information she had just been given and made the final decision. Then she faced Travesty and her girls and spoke.

“Together ‘til the end still stands. We’ll form an alliance. It would be wise to continue these meetings, but spreading out is probably a good idea, long as you have others around you. I don’t trust the Boys.”

Everyone agreed on that one.

“Travesty, you were always more brave than I ever was. I look forward to hearing your progress. Shelby, Mirage, Viper, Lexus?”

The four followers held their breath as they waited for Vic to continue. 

“You’re all capable of succeeding. The Wives deserve to live better lives, even if this isn’t all that better. But hopefully if they manage to escape, they’ll have something to look forward to.”

Savvy snorted. 

“Now that that is settled,” Vic clasped her hands together and held them to her chest, her excitement building up and spreading to everyone else in the room. “I suggest we get to celebrating Torque and Harker’s utter failure at staying away from each other for the full 24 hours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ayyyyyy lmao idk most of my war girls are ex-wives and i love the solidarity they have.   
> other than that, more background and stuff will be coming later. might not update saturday because while most of this is prewritten, i need a transistion chapter from this one to the next thing and i still have school stuff to do.


	4. This Is Fine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins reflect on their life and they're given a mission to find Viper.

Once the rotgut was broken out and those that won the bet got their prizes, all hell broke loose. Travesty was busy chatting with Lexus, who had made herself at home in her lap, looking completely content with herself. They were going to keep watch while the others partied. Viper rarely drank as she didn’t like not being totally aware of her surroundings, so she had gone off on her own since she didn’t want to be the third wheel to the couple. She promised to come back later to help anyone that needed it to get them to the bunks safely. Mirage and Shelby had already vanished, taking a few bottles with them and Victoria, Caliper, and Savvy had gotten the cards out to play blackjack, which probably by the end of the night was going to be more like strip poker. 

Torque and Harker on the other hand kept to themselves in a corner, sulking over their loss. Everyone was just far too happy for their liking and being near Travesty on top of it was annoying in itself. She kept glancing at them and smirking, knowing fully well that she was the true winner out of all of this. Just before they got too drunk to have any kind of comprehensible conversations, Harker decided to confront Torque on their earlier argument. 

“Quick question, Tori”

“What.” 

“You’d come back for me if I fell off the car right?”

Torque’s eyes widened and she concentrated on the ceiling as she slowly drank more rotgut, desperately trying to buy time so that she didn’t have to actually answer that. 

“Right? Torque? Oh my V8, Tori. You wouldn’t, would you.”

Torque started choking causing liquid to pour down her chin and neck, even reaching down to her makeshift tube top. As she sputtered, Harker cackled at her sister, enjoying the pain she was putting Torque through. Served her right for trying to get rid of her. She would have to start adding more grips to her perch now that she was more aware. 

“You seriously would leave me to die in the desert if I fell off?”

Once Torque was able to speak again without coughing and other additional problems, she glared at Harker. “‘s not like you couldn’t survive out there. Someone would hear ya and come pick ya up. It’s just a matter of what would happen to you after that.”

“So, theoretically, if ya managed to throw me off of our car, you would leave me. I’m stuck in the desert, screaming my head off and cursing ya for all eternity. Finally, someone finds me and I’m at their mercy. And you don’t care about that?”

“It hasn’t happened, it won’t happen, you’re too good at sticking to the lancer’s perch. Unfortunately,” Torque pulled out an unused rag from her back pocket of her overalls and absentmindedly began to clean herself up, ignoring the fact that some of her paint was coming off in the process. She would reapply that shit later. If she cared enough, that is. At least it helped get rid of some of the dried blood too. She had totally forgotten about it. 

“Aw, you really do care about me,” Harker nudged her shoulder, making Torque smile a little bit. 

“Someone’s got to take the blame whenever something goes wrong.”

“Oh, great. I love knowing that all I’m good for is fixing yer mistakes and taking the blame for them too.”

“Yup. You’re the youngest, you gotta deal with all my problems.”

Sighing, Harker turned her gaze towards the engine they stole. She kicked it slightly, thinking about what they were going to do with it. They didn’t necessarily need a new engine, and it was going to take some time and effort to modify it for their car. But if Torque wanted it for whatever reason, she would help her. Besides, out of the two of them she was of course an excellent and natural born engineer. Now if only she could work faster. She felt like she hindered Torque’s work whenever they worked side by side together on projects. 

It was only recently that they became as close as they were. Back when they lived in Gastown, they barely saw each other simply because they were so different. Harker liked moving around and being social while Torque liked a quiet atmosphere and to help around the house as their parents weren’t doing so great health wise. The divide only grew larger when the People Eater noticed that they were healthy, petite, and decent looking girls, and twins at that. He saw that he could make a generous profit off them, and they were soon on their way to be with Joe. 

It had been seen as an honor at the time. Now they knew better; it was more like punishment really. 

In the vault, they stayed away from each other. Torque couldn’t stand to see Harker be hurt and she didn’t want Harker to be fussing over her either. Luckily, Joe realized that two is better than one wasn’t always the case, so they also were able to stay away from each other whenever he came along to visit them. It hurt to know that her sister didn’t want to be around her anymore, but Harker understood.

It was only when Torque began exhibiting symptoms of cancer at the age of 17 that they reconnected and their bond grew stronger. Harker couldn’t bear to think about what would have happened if Torque had died in the vault, leaving her behind to deal with Joe alone. They had just begun to realize how similar they were and it was nice to finally talk to someone besides Miss Giddy about how they felt about being a part of Joe’s life like this. Of course Shelby and Mirage had been there too, but that was different, and it didn’t feel right to try and get to know them better. 

Looking back at it now, their relationship had been slow to repair at first; it was like they didn’t even know each other despite how many years they had been together. They had taken it for granted that the other was always going to be there no matter what. But Torque’s sickness was getting the best of her and she couldn’t hide it from Joe for long, especially after the first bump showed up. It was definitely not the bump Joe was hoping she would produce. So she was essentially sentenced to death when Joe gave the order to officially dismiss her. Without the protection of Joe, where would she go? She definitely wouldn’t last long if she became one of the Wretched. 

Harker had gone to Miss Giddy right away during the sentencing and begged her to tell Joe that as identical twins, they would both have cancer. She was just slow to exhibit it herself, which was normal, it said in a medical book that statistically, identical twins had a high chance of having the same illnesses. At first Miss Giddy refused, afraid of the backlash it would cause her if Joe found out that she was lying, but technically, yes, Harker had some sort of chance of being sick too. Definitely not fit enough to be able to produce a healthy heir. 

Within a day or so they found themselves outside of the vault for the first time without the protection of an Imperator or Joe himself. At first they were excited; the thought of being free was thrilling and it wasn’t long before they found themselves trying to figure out the tunnel system. So many War Boys looked at them funny, as if trying to figure out why two Wives were wandering around by themselves. A couple of them tried to escort them back to the vault, but the twins made the mistake of letting them know that they were no longer Immortan Joe’s shiny, chrome, and highly respected Wives. 

The sisters found themselves being escorted somewhere else and by the time they realized what they accidentally got themselves into, they ran into Victoria, who was furious that the Boys were trying to take advantage of their situation. She chewed them out, threatening their lives all while grabbing hold of the twins’s wrists and leading them away. They had been too scared to even thank her at the time.

Harker kind of blamed herself for it all really. If she hadn’t been so active with her friends and stayed at home where it was safe, they probably could have lived a better, more ignorant life. Now they were stuck here in the Citadel. If they tried to go back to Gastown, The People Eater would find out and send them back. He kept good tabs on all his citizens, and he would still have the records on the transaction. They were still Joe’s property, technically.

At least drinking helped numb everything, even if rotgut was terrible and left her feeling even shittier in the morning. Whatever. It was fine. 

“Hey, are ya doing okay?” Torque asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. She noticed that Harker didn't seem to be there in the present and she wanted to make sure her sister wasn't wandering off into dangerous territory in her mind.

She nodded weakly. “Yeah, ‘m fine. Let’s go put this thing away before we drink anymore.”

“Oh, almost forgot about that,” Torque sheepishly finished her bottle and stood up, offering a hand to Harker. As she helped her up, Lexus whispered something to Travesty, who snickered and they both got up. Vic eyed them warily, but didn’t make a move to stop them. 

“Youse little girls headin’ out?”

“Yeah, what’s it to ya?” Harker immediately went on the defensive. Both of them were planning something, that much was obvious. 

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all. When ya come back, could ya find Viper and tell ‘er that we have a surprise?”

“Uh...sure?” Torque picked up the engine and exchanged looks with Harker. 

“Thanks loves,” The couple smiled and returned to their spot as if nothing happened. 

The twins questioned each other, then shrugged, deciding to trust Travesty on this one. It seemed like they were planning something for Viper for once, so there wasn’t a reason to accuse their fellow War Girl of anything just yet. As they left, they waved to Vic, letting her know they would be back soon. 

On their way back to Torque’s workspace, they kept an eye out for Viper, the loner of their group. The young mother took every opportunity she had to visit her son, a 5 year old Pup who was going to be put in training to be a drummer for the Doof Wagon. It was plausible that she went off to go see him, even if it was late. They would have to go check the War Pups’s bunks, probably on their way back. If she wasn’t there, then she was probably by herself on one of the many ledges of the Citadel overlooking the Wasteland, reading one of the stolen books from the vault.

“So what do you think Travesty and Lexus are planning?” Harker took the engine from Torque for a bit to give her a break. She noticed her sister was making the face she always made whenever the bumps were giving her some trouble, and in case Torque started to panic, she wanted to distract her for as long as she could.

“Thanks, mate. Uh, I dunno. She’s always doing something sneaky. And Lexus never wants to give away any secrets. Not that I can really understand sign language to begin with.”

“Sign language is difficult if you don’t practice it enough. I’m sure if we dug around and found the book we could practice together. I think she’d appreciate it.”

“Did we bring that book?”

“I assume that she did. Maybe not. Either way, it would be good to at least be able to understand simple stuff.”

“That’s a done deal, soon as we find that book. At least her scars seem to be fading, have you noticed?”

“Eh, not really looking at other people’s throats, Tori.”

“Do you think she ever gets tired of having to whisper or sign?”

“Probably. I know I would.”

“That’s because if you don’t get to scream every once in awhile, you get real pissy.” 

“I gotta let the entire world know my misery, Tor. Someone might be out there to hear my agony and feel sorry for me.”

Torque rolled her eyes. “Miss Giddy said that there’s little chance of other people being interested in us out there. They have a large amount of distance to cover to get to where we are from their locations around the world, and little to no reason to waste their own resources to come here in the first place. Besides, look at what happen to those that do.”

“But we got lotsa water.”

“Just barely. Joe got lucky in finding it.”

“True.”

The two of them walked in silence, occasionally saying hi to the passing War Boy or Imperator. A couple of times they were ignored, but a few said hello back, friendly. It was nice, although they were still on high alert, just in case. They knew it was silly to think every single War Boy or Imperator was out to get them, but if enough attacked you or your friends…

Eventually they found themselves entering Torque’s workspace. They discussed where they should put the engine, deciding to place it up in the rafters, hidden among dust, wires, and junk. 

“Should be safe enough, yeh?” Harker jumped down, wiping her hands on her pants and looking back up to check.

“I hope so,” Torque took a couple of deep breaths as her windpipe was still bothering her, the cancer threatening to start biting down and chewing. She rubbed away at the bumps on the right of her neck, willing them to cut back on their attack. It seemed to work for the most part, and she was able to breathe a little bit easier now. She ignored Harker’s worried look and led them back out in to the main tunnel. “Let’s go find Viper. I kind of really want to say hi to Duncan if he’s still up.”

“Oh, Duncan, he’s so precious!” Harker perked up and began walking a little bit faster. When she noticed that Torque wasn’t keeping up with her, she grabbed her sister’s wrist and dragged her the entire way to the War Pups’s bunks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thisisfinedog.jpg
> 
> I may update more frequently, but I know I probably shouldn't simply because this will take priority over school. And I can't rly have that, but...I don't really have self control...


	5. Her Majesty, The Beloved Griselda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viper devotes her life to ruining the Citadel's existence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, I honestly really hate writing accents, but Viper is my favorite OC so. If it's too hard to read, I'm really sorry.

Viper had gone to the bunks to have a quick nap before going to see Duncan. She was feeling completely exhausted and after climbing up to her spot, it didn’t take long for her to fall asleep, despite the noises coming from surrounding War Boys. The day had been long for her as she had gone to do some lancing practice with some War Boys she had befriended long ago, followed up by going to the top of the Citadel using their rock climbing gear. It had been Viper’s idea, since she knew Shelby would be up there with the other Green Thumbs and she had asked Viper to visit them sometime. Once they reached the top, they helped out some of the Green Thumbs by repairing any kinks in the various transport lines, which luckily, didn’t happen to be many. Eventually they used the zip line system to quickly make their way to the garage where the cars and motorcycles were kept, and the drivers of the group fetched their wheels. It was time to patrol for scraps. 

What they did find after many hours of aimlessly driving around in their territory, they took back to the Repair Bay and dropped it off. They were going to go back out again, this time for fun, when she realized she should probably start heading down to meet up with the girls as the sun was low in the sky. Once they parted ways, she got some rations, shoving them into her pockets for later, and made her way down the tunnels to the meeting room. 

When she was met by Caliper and Vic and had a quick conversation with them about what they were going to do today. When Vic began to hint at knowing about Travesty’s plan to try and move up ranks, she excused herself to go inside. Once there, she chose a spot to sit and waited, taking the time to think about what was about to happen. Of course there might be a fight, but Vic was starting to get tired of butting heads with Travesty on almost every single little thing. It was a wonder they had been together at all at some point. 

Viper didn’t feel guilty about siding with Travesty. In fact, she knew it was necessary. This was about attempting to change things around the Citadel, and while they didn’t have a solid plan, it was a start. She believed Travesty could talk to Furiosa about the fabled Green Place and that most of them could become Imperators. She knew she herself would be one in no time if she put in the effort. It was just a matter of deciding whether or not she really wanted to be one. Most Boys, including the Ace, were already fond of her and listened to her ideas and orders, so that wasn’t what was making her so unsure. It was the fact that she would have to be close to Joe again. 

She was still absolutely furious about his rejection towards her son. She had been the only one so far to give him what he wanted: A healthy full-life boy with all his parts intact and functioning. And it had still not been enough. Confronting him was going to be difficult, but she had demanded to see her husband, determined to get answers. She was granted alone time with him, something she was actually looking forward to for once.

“What makes ‘im so different from the others?” She had heard that Duncan was not destined to be his heir, but there was no clear reason as to why. She kept herself calm, not wanting to show the Immortan any weaknesses, but it was hard to keep her strong Scottish accent down, betraying how upset she was.

He didn’t answer, not that she had expected him to. He just kept standing there, it was so infuriating. He knew he was in trouble with her.

“I gifted ye a beautiful son. I’ve spent 8 years o’ me life ‘ere, tryin’ to keep you ‘appy love, but isnae easy. A difficult man tae please, mind you. Who ‘elped strengthen relations between towns? Who gave ye advice when no one else could give it? I did. I did more than my fair share around ‘ere, doin’ more than sittin’ around all pretty like, entertainin' you. You would not have the Bullet Farmer or The People Eater kissin’ yer arse without me and ye know it. And we both know why ye have not shut me up yet.”

Again, no answer. But he was frustrated, that much was obvious. His muscles tensed yet he made no move to leave or advance on her. So she decided to move closer, challenging him and baring her teeth, making sure he knew she meant business.

“Lay a hand on me, love, I dare ya. Hit me. Make yerself feel better, knowin’ that ye put yer damn wife in ‘er place. Come on now. Or do ye find it strange that you can’t fucking ‘urt me without feelin’ an emotion you’re not comfortable with.”

He had slammed her against the wall, but that was about all he did. They spent some time like that with her pinned there, wrists above her head, glaring up at him, not backing down. 

“If ‘e is not to be yer heir, then what will become o’ my son?” She kept her voice as level as she could, but it was a little hoarse as her throat dried up from fear for her child.   
“He shall be a Drummer. He’ll be protected for when the time comes for him to be my heir, but know that he is not my first choice.”

She laughed cruelly, understanding finally why he didn’t want Duncan to be the next Face of the Citadel. Out of all his children, he was the darkest, taking on more of his mother’s characteristics than his father’s. And all the drummers were healthy and dark skinned, always had been. Duncan fit the description for them perfectly.

“What a pity then. The Beloved Griselda, the only one the Immortan ever truly favored, possibly even loved if ‘e knew o’ such thing. She who expanded ‘is empire, heard ‘is woes and misery, and gifted ‘im a baby boy. And then ‘e tossed ‘em aside, for ‘e was cursed tae never be satisfied,” She shook her head in disbelief. “A fine fate ye got there, Joe, aye?.”

“Do not speak again!” He growled, applying more pressure onto her wrists, cutting off the circulation. But she could see the anger in his eyes for he knew her words were true. His other children, Corpus Colossus and Rictus Erectus, could rule the Citadel for sure if they worked together and they often did. He knew that. But they were not what he had imagined as rulers, so they knew that they were not heirs either.

“My lips are sealed, Joe. I’ll be complacent for you but ye know what ye got yerself intae now. Yer end is nearin’. You can deny it for as long as ye want, but it’s only a matter o’ time, love. Ye got lucky and you’re tossin’ it out the bloody window.”

“There are other women who can provide the heir that I want for me. Do not think you’re the only one,” He let her go and stormed off as she slid down the wall, landing in a heap on the floor so that she could focus on regaining feeling in her hands by rubbing her wrists, encouraging blood flow. A crying shame that he believed that.

“Good luck tae ye, love. You’re gonna need it,” She muttered under her breath. “The next girl that bears him a male child better ruin his everythin’”

After the encounter, Viper was supposed to be a Milking Mother and she had been busy prepping for the life after Duncan’s birth, understanding that she would never see him again. However, during her pregnancy it was noted that her breasts did not change much in volume, if at all. It didn’t matter much to the Immortan. She was hooked up to the milking machines, given a mummified child to encourage milk production, and fed well, but she just did not produce much milk. It turned out that she was a waste of an investment and she just was not useful in anyway anymore. 

So off she went, cursing Joe outwardly as she was led away. She took on the name Viper, sharpened her upper canine teeth to spite him as that had always been a complaint of his, and disappeared in the Citadel when she found Vic who had been released earlier that month due to her own complications. 

She had a job to do and it was to protect her son. Besides, she did not want him to grow up in the Citadel like this, being told that all he was good for was battle fodder and to aid the troops in song. He was so much more than that, she was determined to prove it. She had always be invested to prove that the next generation of War Boys could be more than what they were now ever since she was brought here. So if she had to go up against Joe again, she would. And she was more than excited to help out Furiosa, the woman who had tried many times to escape on her own. Failed attempts, but she had kept trying. It was inspiring to her. 

During the entire meeting, there was no reason to speak. The others had it under control and her voice was not needed. Everything had been explained to Vic thanks to Mirage and Travesty, so all she could do now was wait for the dismissal. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open and her body was threatening to give up on her for the time being. As much as she wanted to celebrate the twins’s loss, she just could not stay a minute longer. 

She slept for an hour and a half, waking up to the sound of even more War Boys entering the bunks, settling down for the night. They consisted mostly of the younger guys, the ones who just grew out of being a Pup and the ones who were just a couple of years older than that. Her body was still aching, but it was time to go see Duncan before it got any later. She hadn’t seen him in a few weeks due to not wanting him to become dependent on her. He had to survive on his own. 

The way to the War Pups’s bunks seemed longer than usual, but that she blamed that on her grogginess. Upon arrival, she treaded carefully as the Pups were sprawled around on the ground in piles. Duncan usually slept in a specific location, but she went up to one of the War Boys on watch duty to help her find him just in case. 

He was well known in the community as one of the top caretakers of young War Pups. He liked working with Pups from around 1,000 to 2,500 days old as he found it to be the most rewarding knowing that he had some influence in helping them figure out what kind of jobs they wanted to do around the Citadel. As a natural teacher, Niles just felt his best when he was working with kids, and Viper knew deep in her gut that she could trust him with her son. 

Sneaking up to him, she crept low to avoid detection from the other two Boys on watch duty. She popped up, whispering to him in greetings from behind him. “Help me find my son, ya bloody bastart!” 

Startled, he let out a small yelp and whipped around, putting a hand to his chest, visibly shaken. “Viper! You can’t do that me, that seriously freaks me out!” Niles was smiling, but he clearly didn’t appreciate her sudden appearance. “Why are you coming here this late? He’s going to be so cranky in the morning, I can already guarantee-”

“Don’t be tellin’ me when I can and cannot see my own son, Niles. I love ya to bits sometimes for bein' his mentor, but this isn’t one o’ them.”

He raised his arms up slightly, showing his surrender. She used to be intimidating to him until he saw what she was like when she was actually angry. Now he knew that she was just kidding around with him and it helped ease any tension that used to happen between them as he was very protective of the Pups he looked after. “Alright Maw, right this way then please.”

Niles was good at keeping tabs on the Pups, so it didn’t take long to find Duncan on the bottom of a pile close to the edge. She leaned over him and scooped him up gently, placing him on her hip while making sure not to wake up the other sleeping Pups. It wouldn’t be fair to them to see their friend go off with his mother. It always raised unwanted attention to Duncan, who didn’t understand yet why he was the only one with a mother that came to visit him. As she left with her sleepy Pup, she nodded in goodbye to Niles, thanking him.

Once she and Duncan were back out in the hallways, she started humming softly, a tune she sang to him often to let him know who she was as he woke up. She was taking him to her favorite ledge to spend some time with him in privacy, a thing that rarely happened, and she was eager to know how he was doing. 

Slowly, he began to stir, gripping onto her shirt tightly and burying his head into the crook of her shoulder. She kissed the top of his head and kept humming. He was so tired, the little laddie was. Must’ve been a busy day for him.

Finally, she came across the right passageway where the opening to the ledge was and she carefully maneuvered her way down onto it. It was supposed to be an opening to let fresh air in, but it was also a good spot to get away from the hustle and bustle that was always going on.

As they both sat there, Viper’s back against the wall far from the edge, and Duncan now nestled in her lap, she gently shook him, telling him it was time to wake up for the time being. The cool air that began to nip at them also helped to bring him out of his dreaming. She kept him close to her so that he could retain as much body heat as possible. 

“Duncan my boy, hello darlin’! Oh, how you’ve grown in such a short period o’ time! How was yer day, laddie? Didja learn anythin’ new?” 

He was still sleepy, rubbing his eyes as he answered her. “Aye Maw! Niles took us to ‘is car tae name parts. It was fairly easy.” 

“Ach, Duncan ye didn’t show off too much I hope.”

“Nay, just a wee bit when it came tae lookin’ underneath the lid thing.”

“That’s my boy!” Viper rustled the top of his head affectionately, giving him a kiss to the nose.

“Do ye think Da would be proud o’ me?” He looked at her with pure wonder, hoping that she would give him a positive answer. He knew that most War Pups and Boys didn’t focus on family, nor thought it was necessary to ask about their parents. It was considered soft, but Duncan felt safe with his mother here with him. 

Viper managed to stop herself from giving away how discouraged she was by the question. She thought about it seriously, knowing that she would have to tell him at some point, but lying was all she could do now so that she didn’t hurt his feelings. The idea that his father was thinking about him made him happy and she didn’t want to take that away from him. 

“Aye, Duncan. Da would be so proud o’ ye, I’m sure o’ it.” 

“‘e better. I’m gonna tell ‘im all about everythin' when I meet ‘im.”

“Da would love tae hear all about yer adventures, laddie. But until then, you’ve got me tae tell things to and be proud o’ ya.”

“Where are we, Maw?” He swiveled around, trying to figure out where he was. He was used to her taking him places that not many other Pups went and he liked to brag about it whenever he could. 

“A special place where only the bravest o’ the brave venture.”

“What, me?”

“Aye.”

“Woah,” Duncan gazed out and wriggled out from her grip to crawl towards the edge. As much as she wanted to reach out and grab him, she knew she had to keep her cool so that he didn’t panic too. “How far is the ground from ‘ere?”

“Far enough. Come back, love, we don’t ‘ave much time for stories.”

“Ah! Tell me the one about the Caillieach!” He scrambled back into her lap, settling down and leaning into her, eager for her to begin.

“Ye always want to hear about her! Why is that?”

“I think she’s pretty chrome. And I like the way ye tell it.”

So Viper retold the story of the goddess that was usually seen as an old hag and sorceress capable of amazing magic. She was responsible for creating the earth and right now she was taking a break as she had grown tired of the humans that were constantly ruining it. Maybe one day she would come back to recreate what once was, but until then, it was their responsibility to try and take care of themselves for the time being. Throughout the story, she acted out some parts, elaborated on others, and made sure he was engaged the entire time. It was only when she noticed that he was starting to nod off again that she carried him all the way back to the Pups’s bunks. 

Viper was surprised to see the Twins when she came out. “What are you two doing here?” She quickly regained control of her accent, knowing that the others had trouble understanding her otherwise.

“Aw, did you just put Duncan to sleep?” Harker had been tugging Torque along it seemed as she dropped her sister’s arm in disappointment. Torque also looked a little sad by the news, but she probably had anticipated being too late to see her favorite Pup.

“Aye, I did. Is there a reason other than that that you’re here?” She raised an eyebrow, knowing fully well that they should by now being in a stupor, basically asleep themselves. 

“Travesty wants to see you.”

“She and Lexus have a surprise.” 

“Ach, alright then, I’ll bite this time. Are you going back?”

“Yeah, we are,” Torque said, yawning and scratching at her bumps.

“Breathe easy now, Torque. Deep breaths, that’s it. You yawn when you can’t get enough oxygen in ya.”

“Oh.”

“Wait, is that really true?” Harker looked at her confused. “I never heard of that.”

“Have you ever exerted a lot of energy at one time and then had trouble breathing, so you yawned? Oxygen levels are low.”

“Ah, well. That’s good to know. We should probably leave, Uncle Niles would be furious to find us still here.”

“Alright lassies, lead the way,” Viper smiled and took their hands, letting them set the pace as they returned to the club.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently some people are complaining about War Girls in canon verse? So uh, if it makes you more comfortable, I guess this is an AU, but honestly I don't care either way.  
> But yeha, Viper hates Joe's guts. More about her to come later yay  
> I also couldn't help but update this right away, but I wanted to set the date for publication on Wednesday but apparently you can't do that? Oh.


	6. What She Did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more about Viper, with Travesty later being a little shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to write this instead of writing a reaction paper for school. Uh.   
> Anyways. Enjoyyyyy

Through winding corridors and stairways, they made their way down to the meeting room. It had been abandoned long ago and Vic had been the one to find it and declared it to be their headquarters of sorts. The room probably was meant for further digging into the Citadel, but was left abandoned for whatever reason they weren’t aware of. It had several smaller rooms where they kept everything they had taken from the Vault, stuff that was valuable to them and sentimental. Their old garments that they had worn had either been made into makeshift tops of different kinds or used to bandage up wounds they sustained. Thanks to Organic, they also had their own stash of drugs and other medical supplies simply so that they could avoid him as much as they could. It was nice to have their own space, away from the men of the Citadel. 

Torque was trying to keep herself from coughing, but it was obvious that she was about to have a violent episode as her free hand kept nervously hovering or rubbing around the bumps on her right throat and shoulder.

“Breathe in an’ out slowly, that’s it. We’ve got time to get to back to the others, there’s no need to rush,” Viper looked down at Torque, keeping herself calm and relaxed. Harker on the other hand kept looking at her sister worriedly, afraid of the moment Torque might collapse or faint.

“I don’t...I don’t feel good. I think I’m gonna need to lie down,” Torque kept her eyes on the ground, trying to focus on one thing at a time. Her stomach was knotting and threatening to empty its contents and she swore her body temperature was starting to rise. Air was becoming restricted, but only enough to annoy her. 

“You sure, Tori?” Harker let go of Viper’s hand, unsure of what she should do. All Torque could do was nod at this point. Talking was too much for her, too much energy to give up at a time when she needed to conserve it.

“Off to the bunks then. No arguing,” Viper took Harker’s hand again and led them back up as fast as Torque could go. When they got there, Harker hauled her sister up with help from Viper. A lot more War Boys had shown up as the night progressed and most were asleep, so the sound of snoring reverberated throughout the large room. Mostly the bunks consisted of rectangle type sleeping spaces carved into the rock with hand and foot holds in between rows. Others made due with the ground or slept somewhere else. Most bunked with their partners or friends to keep warm during the chilly desert night or, if they were lucky enough, had blankets collected from raids they had been apart of. Torque and Harker were one of the lucky ones.

Once Torque was bundled up and settled, Viper left alone as Harker told her she couldn’t leave Torque’s side when she was like this. Viper knew all too well that Torque’s cancer was slowly starting to get worse. She had seen it many times among her other friends. But there was nothing she could do to help. Soon, Torque would need to start seeing the Organic Mechanic for blood transfusions if there was a blood bag that matched her available. Person, she reminded herself. Some poor person that was captured and healthy enough to provide a service to the Immortan against their will, tattooed permanently with their health status and the Immortan’s brand on their backs to tell others that they were already owned. 

She was still having trouble fighting against years of constant reinforcement about how they were nothing but things that he earned to be used for anything he saw fit. And she had believed that up until she began to help him bargain with the other leaders of the nearby societies, The Bullet Farmer and The People Eater. He saw her not only as a breeder, but someone he trusted and valued enough to listen to her opinions and speak about current issues as well as revise trading every now and then as the population grew or shrunk. She made sure that he got the most out of every deal and that the relations between leaders was kept so that they needed him, which of course was fairly easy since they had all of the clean water, an essential for living. 

So in a way, she was responsible for reinforcing the idea that they all were things, too. The guilt at her some nights. If the Bullet Farm was running low on boys, War Pups and prospective boys from the Wretched were traded for ammunition, and if Gastown was running low on their boys, War Pups and prospective boys from the Wretched were traded for guzzoline and petroleum. Blood bags were sent to either town that required them in order to keep all three armies strong as they could be in case of needing to protect each other from attacks and to provide backups during any wars. 

And any girl who might become a suitable breeder was to be taken to the Immortan immediately, although as The People Eater figured out, could be bargained for. Things for things, a fair trading system if you were the one that benefited. 

She had played into this fantasy for a couple of years, that she was above them all, a dutiful wife of the Immortan, not just a breeder. Until her son was born, she thought she was the one. And she wasn’t. Of course rejection hurts, but with this certain rejection came feeling of tumbling down the ladder she had climbed up with very little obstacles. She became a thing again, and was still a thing, serving him this time as a warrior, and soon, an Imperator. 

As much as she had thought about just picking up Duncan and running away from it all, she had no where to go. When she was taken at 13 years old, it had been during a deadly raid that left her clan in shambles. Her mother and aunt had been taken too, but she never saw them again after being locked away in the vault. Of course, all the men had been killed unless they were young, taken to become War Pups and to be taught that they had been saved and were going to be serving a God. Everything she knew had been destroyed in a short amount of time and she knew of no one to turn to. She was stuck, for the most part.

Travesty and Furiosa seemed to be the only people who might actually have some place to take refuge at, but planning was still early, and there was doubt that Furiosa would recognize or believe Travesty. Especially since Travesty couldn’t even remember her mother’s name or clan name; she had been too young. Those were things she at least knew were very important to the Vuvalini, or the Many Mothers, for identification purposes. They were an incredibly exclusive people, always suspicious of foreign people from what she had heard and honestly, Viper didn’t blame them. 

But she knew it was at least worth a try. The worst that could happen would be that Furiosa wouldn’t listen to them, knowing the punishments that could happen if someone were to become traitorous. 

By now she had reached the entrance and slid the rock that acted as their door just enough to slide through, keeping as quiet as she could. She immediately could tell that Vic and Caliper were drunk as they were talking quite loudly and without shame. She didn’t hear Savvy’s voice, so that meant she was probably asleep, head leaning against one of their shoulders, drooling. 

Even though she had said she was willing to talk to Travesty, she wasn’t really feeling it anymore. It would have been easier to just sit in the dark corners where the candles and lights didn’t reach and wait until everyone was ready to leave to sleep for the night. Yet, she knew it was better to get whatever it was Travesty had planned for her over as soon as possible. 

Travesty wasn’t really paying attention to anything at all except for Lexus, who was whispering in her ear as usual in between kissing her neck. It was a perfect opportunity to sneak up and disrupt them, she thought to himself, smiling.

Viper decided to come up from behind Lexus. “Now, what was this about a surprise?”

Lexus nearly leapt out of Travesty’s lap with a small squeak and fell onto the floor rather unceremoniously, with Travesty laughing her ass off. That earned her a glare from the other War Girl and she immediately tried to stifle it by biting the back of her hand, although somewhat unsuccessful in doing so. Travesty helped Lexus up, wiping off any dust and dirt she got from the fall. “Geez, gotta ruin everything don’t ya? Anyways, we got some supplies, stuff that you’ve been wanting for a long time, Vi. Lots of paper and a pen. Emphasis on lots of paper.”

Viper crossed her arms and squinted hard at Travesty. “How?”

“None of yer business how we got it, Vi. ‘s there in the back of the book room, hidden so that no one could try to steal it.”

“Hm,” Viper skeptically walked on over to the room and searched the back, expecting to find nothing or some dead animal, like a mutated lizard or bugs. But, to her astonishment, there was paper and there was a pen, hidden behind a stack of books. She didn’t care much about the pen; if she could get some of kohl they used for the black around their eyes and a stick or something, she could finally start writing down her people’s stories and lore as well as teach Duncan how to read and write. 

“Like it?” Travesty was at the entrance of the room, leaning against the wall, her hands in her pockets, a neutral look on her face. Viper looked back and slowly stood up with the paper and pen in her hands.

“Where didja get all o’ this?” She felt herself getting a little emotional. This was actually a really great gift to receive and it was hard to keep her accent in check.

Travesty walked up to her, trying to hide her limp, but sitting for so long in one position didn’t help. “Not important. We wanted to pitch in to help Duncan and you’ve been moping around talking about wanting to write so here ya go. Cheers, mate.” 

“Thank you, Travesty. Thank ye very much.”

The lanky War Girl’s lips quirked up a little bit. “There’s just one little catch.”

“Ah, that’s what I’ve been waitin’ for.” Of course there was.

“‘s a small one, Vi. Help us convince Vic to go down to the pits.”

“Why is that?” Now she was suspicious. They all rarely ever went to the pits to watch fights in the first place. 

“”Cause we’re gonna try and get Torque and Harker to fight against each other.”

“Travesty! You cannae be serious. What ‘ave ye got against ‘em?

“Absolutely nothing, I just wanna do more bets on ‘em. They’re real predictable and I like winning.”

Viper shook her head, displeased. “Ye know why we started the bets in the first place. That isnae fair to ‘em.”

“I don’t give a damn about why. ‘Sides, most of my winnings go to Lexus.”

“She knows you like ‘er, why do ye need things to prove it?”

“‘Cause I like spoilin’ her-”

“Ye don’t need to keep on givin’ gifts to someone for ‘em to love you. If you two are serious aboot this-”

“I am serious, ’s why I want to show it to her!”

“Actions speak louder than words, love. An’ from what I’m gatherin’ here, you’re not confident about this relationship of yers. Hell, ye basically spat in ‘er face earlier by givin’ Vic a nip on the forehead.”

“Vicky and I are on...interesting terms, and she knows that. She doesn’t mind.”

“But you do, clearly.”

“Right, we’re done here,” Travesty waved Viper off and limped back out of the room. “Enjoy your shit, Vi. I still want ya to follow through with our request. Oh, and help Savvy to the bunks, would ya? Thanks.”

Viper rolled her eyes and put her new supplies back in their place. If she was going to have to carry Savvy all the way back to the bunks, she didn’t want anything to happen to the goods she just got. Sucking in a deep breath, she took one last look to make sure nobody could see the paper, then left to give Savvy a piggy back ride to the bunks, knowing that at this point, nothing would wake her up.


	7. Travesty Vs. Tragedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic and Caliper are hungover and Travesty is done with both of them.

The next day, Vic woke up in her bunk with Caliper’s arm draped around her waist, snoring lightly and drooling a little bit. It was kind of cute, but it the drool was pooling near her ear and she didn’t really like that. Looking down, she realized that they must’ve been helped to the bunks as they were still fully clothed, and their blankets were draped haphazardly on them. As soon as she tried to move her head in any other direction, it was clear that today was not gonna be a good one; the migraine and dehydration hit her point blank, making it hard to move at all. But she had to. She needed to get rations and especially get some water. She nudged Caliper, but in response she tightened her grip on Vic. She was still fast asleep. 

“Morning Vicky. Need some help there?” Travesty’s voice was soft and thankfully didn’t hurt her ears. Vic tried to sit up a little to turn around to greet her, but was still restrained by Caliper’s strong arms. They were in the very bottom bunk which meant that Travesty had to have been either kneeling or squatting to talk to her, even though that sort of movement made her right knee stiffen up rather fast. 

“What are you doing, Trav? You’ve got work to attend to, don’t you?” Vic mumbled and turned her head as much as she could manage, which wasn’t very far. She only got a glimpse of the other War Girl before needing to straighten her neck back out.

“Yeah, but Lexus is covering for me for the time bein’. Come on, you need some food in ya,” She grabbed Caliper’s arm and pulled gently, urging her to move, which she did. Once Vic could wriggle out away from her bunkmate, Travesty helped her stand up and keep her steady, keeping an arm around her waist and slinging one of Vic’s arms around her shoulders. After a few seconds, Vic realized that Travesty was trying to get her to walk. It must have been midday. Not many War Boys were in the bunks and she could feel the energy buzzing around her from the day’s activities.

“What time is it?” She yawned, leaning into Travesty just a little bit. For balance reasons. Yes. Now, if only she was a few inches taller, it would be much easier to rest her head on her shoulder. 

“Sun’s up in the sky the highest ‘s gonna go. Lunch is being served.”

“Oh, great. I think I got stuff to do today,” Vic closed her eye shut and tried to wrack her brain for any duties that she was assigned to for the day. There was the daily car check that could be done pretty much at any point, but that’s all she could really come up with. They weren’t due for patrol for a couple of days and nothing exciting ever happened in the Citadel otherwise. 

“Probably, but you’re not doing so good Vicky, that much is very obvious,” Travesty didn’t look at her, just concentrating on getting Vic to the rations station as soon as possible. She was going to be in big trouble if she didn’t come back in time; Lexus would be furious if she spent much longer than need be with Vic as it meant she was stuck trying to communicate to the Boys arriving later on to help out on their current project, and Mirage was still trying to figure out sign language. Lexus for the most part was mute, and if she did talk to you, it was brief, for speaking hurt her throat. Only Travesty could work as the interpreter so far. “Should probably pick up the pace.”

“Then carry me,” Vic giggled. Her migraine was getting worse and every step she took sent a dull shock to her head. It would be an hour or so before most of the pain dissipated and her stomach was throwing a fit after not having solid food for at least 12 hours.

“Nope, not gonna do that. Knee’s bad and you’re taller than me, it would be ridiculous.”

“Aw, but I don’t really want to walk.”

“We all gotta do things we don’t want to do Vicky, you know that. If ya want, I can wake up Caliper and have her carry you.”

She perked up. “Oh please, could you? That would be nice.”

Travesty stopped and looked up at Vic, questioning her. She opened her mouth up to say something more, but stopped, instead guiding Vic back. “Come on then.”

“Oh, I didn’t think you actually would.”

“Naw, I think it’s a better idea if Caliper took you.” It would save me a whole lot of pain, she finished in her head. After making sure Vic was leaning against the wall safely, she knelt down again and shook Caliper rougher than she needed to. “Open yer eyes up, Cali. Vicky needs ya.”

Caliper awoke with a grunt and rolled over, only to find that the bunk was empty except for her which made her wake up fully. Quickly, she rolled back, eyes out of focus, and stared up at Travesty as if trying to figure out who she was. Once her brain caught with everything, her eyes widened.

“Travesty, what are you doing here? Where’s Vic?”

“She’s right here, Cali. She wants ya to carry her to the rations station like the lazy bastard she is.”

“Hey,” Vic kicked at Travesty half heartedly, knowing that she was only joking. Somewhat. “Be nice, Trav.”

“Not really feelin’ like being anything other than quite frank, to be honest with ya, Vicky,” Travesty slowly rose to her feet and limped off, hands in her pockets, to the repair bay where she left Lexus with Mirage. “See you two around then.”

“Do you know what her problem is, mate?” Caliper asked, sliding out from the bunk. She swung her legs out and Vic thought she was going to stand up, but Caliper only sunk down onto the floor, keeping her head between her knees. Great.

Vic kept her eyes on Travesty for as long as she could before she disappeared, a knot forming in her stomach. “No, but she’s been acting a little strange lately.”

Caliper raised her head slightly, looking up at Vic concerned. “Is this ‘cause of the move? I mean, it’s not that big of a move, they’re still gonna come back here to the bunks for sleep.”

“I know, but Imperators sleep in their own quarters and it won’t be like this anymore,” Vic sighed and slid down next to her bunkmate, resting her head on her shoulder. Finally. “I’m going to miss her.”

“You really think she’s gonna become an Imperator?” The bigger War Girl chuckled. “‘s real ambitious of her. The Immortan likes them all to look a certain way, and her burned face isn’t gonna look good without the white and black paint.”

“It’s gotten much better since the accident, the OM was sent up right away and probably saved her from further damage,” Vic fought to keep the images she wanted so badly to forget from resurfacing. It had been a horrific sight and Travesty’s screaming still haunted her dreams some nights. She had tried to stop her when she realized the oil was dripping down her face, but Travesty had had it with Joe and just wanted something for herself. Especially after he took them away. “The scarring might actually help her image. Besides, she could probably get away with wearing a scarf around her head. Imperators get a lot more freedom when it comes to uniforms.”

“You told me she did it on purpose.”

“It had initially been on purpose, but I don’t think she meant for it to go as far as it did. She only wanted to make a point about being able to still have some control over her life and to singe off some of her hair. Only problem was, the oil got onto the left side of her scalp and down the side of her face. It’s why afterwards we weren’t really allowed candles or gas lamps in the vault.” 

"She couldn't have just cut it?"

"No. Wouldn't have had the same effect."

The two of them sat there, observing the few War Boys around them carry on with their lives. Little scuffles broke out every once in a while, some were napping or chatting in their bunks, and others were doing...whatever it was that they were doing. Vic didn’t really want to look for very long out of respect for their privacy. 

Her stomach growled, only to be rivaled by Caliper’s stomach doing the same, only much more noticeable. They caught each other’s eye, smiling and then laughed, finally standing up. 

“You don’t need to carry me, I was just kidding with Travesty,” Vic took Caliper’s hand in her own. “We need to work on the car and after that I really don’t know what else to do.”

“Well, we should prepare for the upcoming patrol. I heard the other day that the Buzzards are getting a little braver and more desperate,” Caliper fiddled around with Vic’s fingers before letting her know that she didn’t want her hand held. “The twins and Savvy should be busy prepping, too.”

“I hope we don’t run into anything out there,” Vic began the journey to the rations station with Caliper right behind her. “I hate fighting.”

“But when you do, it’s real shine, Vic.” 

A small smile appeared on her lips and she laughed a bit. “Thanks, Cali.”

“If anything, the twins will be the ones to engage in any fighting if need be. They fit right in with the War Boys when they want to, and chasing off enemies always gets them going. Especially with the Buzzards. Harker likes to tell the stories about her Polecat friends and their battles in the desert.”

“It frightens me. They shouldn’t be so quick to throw themselves into danger like that,” Vic frowned, only to groan a little at the sudden pang behind her eyes. It felt like her brain was rolling around freely in her head. She immediately stopped in her tracks and rubbed her temples slightly until the waviness subsided. Caliper guided her to the side of the tunnel so that others could pass them. 

“Hey, I used to be that way too, until I met all of you,” Caliper walked around in front of her and lifted her chin a little bit, figuring out by now that Vic was having some problems. “And I mean, still am a little bit. Little hard to grow out of it.”

“Yes, but I don’t remember you carving your death count on your arm like Harker does. And Torque even encourages it. I worry for them, violence can be a little too much sometimes, and I know it’s necessary sometimes in order to survive, but...they might need to tone it down a little. Not everyone we run into has to die.”

“Kamicrazy War Girls, the both of them,” Caliper smirked and hugged Vic quickly before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Come on. I’m starving and I want a few lizards if any of them are left. I can only eat so many bugs.” 

“And I’m parched. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to not having all the water we wanted,” Vic finally felt ready to walk at a normal pace without wanting to cry from her migraine, but the lights were low enough that she knew once she saw sunlight, it would start all over again. 

“Something that I’m still jealous of,” The bigger War Girl tried to keep her voice steady as yes, she was incredibly envious of the wives still with some things. She just could not believe that they had been allowed to drink as much as they wanted. Everyone else had to carefully ration how much they were given. “Speaking of aqua cola and such, wash day is coming up soon. It might even be tomorrow, I don’t know, I’ll have to check with a few guys.”

“Wash day? Already? It feels like we just had it,” Cringing, she wrapped her arms around herself, feeling uneasy. Nothing ever really happened but she always felt so vulnerable. But her top did need washing as well as her pants. And it might be nice to wash off the smell of sweat, oil, and rotgut.

“It’ll be fine and you know you can always skip it. Savvy might be able to stay with you, but I sure as Hel know that I need to clean myself up.”

Vic shrugged a shoulder, determining that she would think about it later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're wondering if I finished the response paper I had due eariler this week, i literally finished it a few hours before I had to turn it in. Oops. Uh, College. But soon they will all freshen up and then get out of the Citadel for some adventure \o/


	8. Jump In The Pool

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A typical day for the Girls to clean themselves up. Or at least try to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to save this for Wednesday but I ended up writing more than I thought I would ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯. Chapter title is a song by Friendly Fires ayyyy. Also do they have soap in the Citadel idk I didn't write about soap

Wash Day happened to be two days later for them, something that Vic was torn about. For one, she could finally clean herself up properly and feel refreshed in the pool area or showers. And her clothes could be thoroughly washed and dried in the time it took her to scrub herself raw. However, since this was also the day before their patrol with two other parties, it was a little disappointing. Several hours in the hot sun, paranoia and adrenaline running through her system was just going to make her sweat and feel icky again. She guessed that as long as Savvy and Caliper were there, it was all right.

They were all going as a group, the ten of them, even though Travesty had wanted to go another day to keep them split up. It was too much of a habit now and safety in numbers was still on everyone’s mind. Out of the three pools, only two were accessible to them. One was for the Imperators only and was isolated, while the other two pools were in different parts of the Citadel. One for the War Boys, and one for anyone else. That one usually seemed really dirty.

They were early, mostly so that they would have the chance of being alone and also to avoid...urine. With that many people in the pool at one time, things got weird, and urinating seemed to be a thing because who cared? It was going to be washed away anyways along with all the other grime. But they of course they all cared. When more War Boys came later on, they would just head to the showers to finish up before moving on with repainting themselves. 

When they arrived, only a handful of War Boys were already there, but they were too busy getting themselves cleaned up or just relaxing in the pool, enjoying the tranquility of the early morning. A couple got out as soon as they realized the Girls had arrived, knowing that it was time to move on.

The twins were the most excited, with Harker leading her sister straight into the pool despite them both being clothed. Luckily, the tradition was that everyone’s shoes and most valuables had been left in the bunks as there really was no reason to lug them to the wash room, so it was just harmless play. She slung Torque right into the pool and then jumped in after her, dunking Torque’s head underneath the water again just as she resurfaced. 

“It’s wash day, wash day, gonna get all squeaky clean, Tori!” Harker sang, a huge grin on her face. “Come on, the faster we wash up, the quicker we can repaint ourselves! Or we can wait around and harass the Boys when they come in later. Challenge them to who has the hairiest arm pits contest!” She lifted both her arms up proudly. “I of course would be the obvious winner, but it’s always good to give people a fair chance, right Tori?”

“Harker! You got my overalls all soaking wet, my stuff is gonna turn to rust!” Torque whined but she clearly didn’t mind as she too couldn’t stop herself from smiling and splashing Harker before taking everything off and placing them carefully on the side of the pool. The remaining War Boys rolled their eyes and got up to leave, trying to play it off as if they were too chrome to indulge in such Pupish behavior. 

“You say that as if we don’t have to clean our clothes anyways,” Harker pulled off her top and threw it onto the edge of the pool, not really caring where it landed, then started fiddling with her belt until something caught her eye. “Oh yeah, and finders keepers!” 

“What?” Confused, Torque watched as Harker dove under the water, only to get mock angry about Harker coming back up with her wrench. She reached for it, but Harker stuck a hand out and stopped her from coming closer. “Hey! Give that back!”

“Nuh-uh, no way, Tor, you gotta earn it back, on a dare.”

“That’s so stupid, just give it back.”

“You don’t even know what the dare is!”

“Any dare you tell me to do is stupid.”

The others just continued about their own business, ignoring the twins for now. They all stripped, some more quickly than others, depending upon how comfortable they were with it. Especially with Shelby. She had only been there with them for about a month and a half and she was still having a hard time adjusting. Another reason why they went as early as they did. While she gathered up the courage to join them, Mirage sat and comforted her as much as she could in a corner, reminding her that it wasn’t necessary to do anything today. But it might possibly be a good idea, all things considered, especially since she skipped the last one.

Everyone partnered up when it came to wash day. It was good to do so as it made it easy to have your back cleaned and to have someone check you for any spots you may have missed. But it came with its annoyances to, such as Viper usually being the only one without a partner; Savvy, Vic, and Caliper were a tight threesome. Which she was okay with, don’t get her wrong, but sometimes it was awkward to tap someone on the shoulder and interrupt them to ask if she had gotten everything. Oh well. This time she would just wait to see if her other friends showed up. 

“No, I can’t do that!” Torque covered her mouth in shock. Harker had told her the dare and no one had been paying attention, but whatever it was, Torque usually never backed down from dares. No matter how humiliating. “That would be a terrible thing to do!”

“You gotta if ya want yer wrench back, Tori,” Harker was still waving the tool around just out of reach of Torque, teasing her. “You gotta tell him, point blank to his face.”

“I can’t lie to him!”

“Telling him that he’s mediocre wouldn’t be lying, swears it. We’ve both seen his lancing skills, he’s got nothin’ special on him.”

“He’s better than you, that’s for sure. And he’s not a part of Furiosa’s crew just ‘cause he’s...just ‘cause!”

“Come on, Tori,” Harker’s face dropped, disappointed. She crossed her arms, silently pleading her sister with her eyes. “’s not like he’s gonna write you off just ‘cause you told him the truth.”

“Okay, no, ya know what? It’s okay, keep the wrench, I’ll just get another one from someone else.”

“Awwww, you’re no fun, Torque,” Harker slumped and handed the wrench back. “I bet you like him.”

“No, I don’t!” Torque was a little too quick to answer and it earned her a wicked smile from Harker. “I don’t, really, he’s...he’s not-”

“You’re so obvious, that’s why ya can’t bring yourself to call him mediocre, you don’t want to ruin yer chances with him.”

“No, that’s not true at all!” 

“Oh yeah? Prove it then. Hey, Travesty!” Harker waded as fast as she could go over to her, giddy and trying to out swim Torque, just barely staying out of reach of the frantic grabs she was making.

“No,” Not a morning person, Travesty hadn’t even gotten in yet, instead opting to lay down on her stomach near the edge of the pool, propping her chin up with a hand while watching Lexus go through her routine. Her face scrunched up, irritated that the twins were interrupting this special experience and she did her best to ignore them. Lexus just kept doing her thing, hoping that the twins would leave them alone soon. “Go away.”

“Turning the tables here for once, I got a deal for ya.”

“No you don’t, not anythin’ I would be interested in,” Travesty dipped a hand in the pool, lazily making little ripples towards Lexus to get her attention.

“I think you’d enjoy it, Travesty, ya just gotta make sure Tor-” She was cut off from Torque tackling her, wrapping an arm around her throat and covering up her mouth with her hand. 

“Don’t ya fucking tell ‘er Harker, I’m serious!” Torque was desperate at this point, trying to drag Harker away from the two unmoved War Girls. “I’d rather be Witnessed on the Fury Road for something mundane than go through with this, you gotta be shitting me!”

The splashing caused by both of them finally made Travesty look at them, at first to scold them for getting her wet, but when she saw how serious Torque was about trying to silence Harker and felt Lexus’s gaze on her. She glanced back, raising an eyebrow. Lexus shook her head, disapproving, but it was too late.

“Hm, maybe I might be interested after all, Harks,” Travesty gave a half smile to Lexus before meeting Harker’s eyes. “See me later when ya can and we can talk about it then.” She missed Lexus run her hands down her face in frustration. 

The struggling twin managed to give her a thumbs up before being dunked under water. Unfortunately for Torque, that just gave Harker the advantage. It wasn’t long before her sister had wriggled out of her grip and swam away.

By this time, a small group of War Boys came in, sleepy, but still semi energetic. A lot of them just stripped as they walked, throwing their pants aside for the time being and jumped right in. Lancers stuck with their drivers unless there was a rift present, and for the most part, they stuck to the other side of the pool, giving the Girls extra space. 

“Oi! Greer, come an’ help me out, laddie,” Viper waved him over. While he wasn’t the one she was hoping to see, he was the first here. They just met a couple of weeks ago and were still trying to figure each other out, so this would probably be a good opportunity to see more of his personality. “‘s alright, they don’t bite.”

Reluctant and wondering if this was a test, he first consulted his friends with a glance. They were all grinning and one even shoved him forward forcefully. 

“Uh, okay, Viper,” He was really shy and obviously nervous, licking his lips and picking at his fingernail beds as he made his way over. 

“Come on, I don’t have all day. You’ve got my back, I’ve got yers, group motto ain’t it?” Viper met him halfway and they engaged more in conversation. He eased up more once he realized he didn’t have to go all the way to their side and Viper instead decided that she would join the Boys after all. No big deal, long as they didn’t comment on her body, she was comfortable with them. 

“Keep an eye on her, will you, Cali?” Vic poked her in the ribs. 

“Will do,” Caliper sighed and switched positions so that she was behind Vic instead of in front of her and continued with rubbing old paint off of her. Since Savvy was shorter than both of them, she replaced Caliper by standing in front of Vic, asking her to do her back. 

“You bloody well know that she’s fine,” Travesty hissed, finally getting into the pool after some convincing from Lexus. 

“Not now, Trav,” Vic focused on removing the paint from Savvy’s back while also massaging her shoulders, satisfied with the reactions she was getting from the other War Girl. 

A sudden movement and wave of water got all of the Girls’s attention. Shelby had finally gathered up the courage to get into the pool and she chose to jumpto get it over with. She was still in her clothes, but with Mirage’s help, she stripped out of them, soaking them long enough and wringing her garments out several times to make sure all the dirt was gone. She was very upset, but there was no going back now. If they hurried, this would be all the exposure she got today. Mirage didn’t waste any time. She pulled a rag out of her pocket and threw it to Shelby before stripping and sliding into the water beside her. As Shelby scrubbed away at her paint, Mirage kept a protective eye out, scowling at anyone who looked too long and blocking her lover as much as she could.

The day went on, and it wasn't long before the pool changed from semi clear to a grayish murky color. Once they were all rinsed off in the showers, they headed to the paint room where they shaved their heads and whatever else they wanted to. Partnering up again, they reapplied their paint, each doing their own design when it came to the face if they wanted to. They mostly stuck to code, but a few liked to make theirs more personalized, like Torque, who connected her black eye paint over the bridge of her nose, leaving a little bit in the middle of it white, creating a mask like affect. The twins also covered the top half of their lips lightly in black khol, an inside joke of sorts that they couldn’t even remember at that point as to why they did it. 

After staking a claim on the rocks, they sat there, waiting for their clothes to dry and kept to themselves. Torque was still begging Harker not to talk to Travesty, but it was too late. A kind of pre contract had already been made and she knew she couldn’t talk her sister out of sealing the deal with Travesty. All because she refused to call a certain Boy mediocre to his face. She was going to have to get better at that. Maybe she would hone her skills come tomorrow during patrol.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for patrol??? Cos I am, and they finally leave the Citadel for a little while. And unfortunately have to come back but...sOON


	9. Not Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mirage and Shelby reassure each other that they're real and together while Vic and her crew expands for patrol only to discover trouble when she didn't want any.

Mirage was woken up by a very persistent Shelby, tapping away at her shoulder using her nail. It was a little confusing as Shelby didn’t usually try and wake Mirage up, she always let her sleep until she woke up on her own, unless it was an emergency. Worried, Mirage hesitantly peered over her shoulder to see what was wrong. She was trying her best not to touch Mirage, which meant that she must’ve been really restless that night. It didn’t seem like anything was as Shelby brightened when she met Mirage’s eyes. 

“Hi, ’m sorry to wake you up like this M, but the others have left for patrol or doing other stuff. I’m kind of hungry but I don’t want to, you know. Walk there by myself. I still kinda get lost.”

“We’re gonna have to work on that, Shel, I ain’t gonna be here for ya all the time,” Mirage instantly regretted saying it, but it was true. And if it was true, it should be said. Slumping back down, she shut her eyes, counting to 10, needing to wake up just a little bit more before she could even bring herself to climb out of bed. Or the bunk. Whatever it was she was in. Things blended together sometimes and she had a hard time figuring out what was what. “Give me a second, will you?”

“Okay, M,” She paused, recognizing the signs. “Do you know where you are?”

“Not at home, that’s for sure,” It felt safer if she curled up in a fetal position, so she did just that, wrapping her arms underneath the crook of her knees tightly. “Not at home.”

“We’re in the bunks,” a hand lightly touched her shoulder, an attempt to see how she would react. Sometimes Shelby had to wait until Mirage fully came around again, which might take anywhere between 10 minutes to an hour. “You had a bad dream last night and I had to sleep with Viper for a little bit because I couldn’t get you to wake up.”

“I don’t remember it.”

“I don’t want to remind you either M. But I’m here. And the bunks are here. And the War Boys are here. And everything else is here. I know you don’t want to be, but I’m happy you’re here too.”

“Thanks,” Mirage struggled to piece together the words, just barely catching anything that Shelby had said. It made sense though. She could feel Shelby’s hand on her, so it must be true. And she felt the tapping earlier as well. Slowly but surely, she rolled onto her back and touched the ceiling, making sure it was solid. When satisfied, she looked back at Shelby and smiled softly. “Hello.”

“Hi M,” Shelby kept her hand on her shoulder and scooted a little closer, prompting Mirage to reach out and touch her face. Time went on, ticking for Shelby, but slipping for Mirage. Shelby was actually there and not just a dream. Her hand wandered, but she stopped, knowing that now was probably not the best time.

“The others have left already?”

“Yes. Patrol and chores. I also have to go report in with the other Green Thumbs and you were going to try and join us.”

“Yeah, I remember that now,” Furrowing her brow, she also remembered why Shelby had woken her up in the first place. “Let’s get some food, yeh?”

“Yes, that would be good. I’m really hungry, M.”

“Good thing today wasn’t patrol for me,” Mirage sighed as she followed Shelby out from the bunks and took in the sounds of the Citadel. Real, real, real. 

“Technically it was, but Viper talked them out of it.”

“Shit.”

“It’s okay,” Taking her hand, Shelby ended up leading Mirage to get rations. “That one time you did patrol-”

Mirage stiffened, flashbacks whipping through her mind too fast for her to register, but the feelings she got from them stayed with her. Fear. All she could feel was fear and loss. “Too far.”

“Oh, sorry. Right. I’m really sorry, M,” Rubbing at her arm, Shelby tried to shut herself up before she said anything else. “I’m sorry.”

“‘s not your fault. I have to face it again sometime. I’m fine. They will all come back in one piece.”

Walking together, the two War Girls gradually got closer and closer until their arms wrapped around each other, protective and reassuring the other that they were there. 

__________

 

The vehicles were cruising at a nice pace, only an hour or so into their bi weekly duty. They were given the orders from The Ace to head up and check their borders up North. That had made Vic happy as the Buzzards avoided the Northern territory. Very little sand dunes and places to set up their nasty traps. It also meant that she didn’t need to worry about the twins as much as she thought she would. 

Viper and her friend Greer were up front, acting as Scouts on their motorcycles, keeping a sharp eye out for anything that needed attention. Everything seemed quiet in the desert, but that was no big surprise. It was very rare for them to be attacked or for wanderers to get lost in their territory. Even scraps weren’t a guaranteed find. They kept on zig zagging and making a game out of it, just to make the time pass quicker. With another 6 hours left, things could get very boring, very fast.

Harker had her seat of the Pontiac Trans Am reclined, napping lightly while an envious Torque drove, trying not to run up the huge sand dunes that popped up occasionally in an attempt to keep her sister awake. Hopefully when they returned to the Citadel, she would be the one sitting there, catching up on some well deserved sleep. The night had been long, with Mirage being stuck in a nightmare, reliving whatever it was that affected her so greatly to the point that it was amazing that Shelby could bunk with her for as long as had, despite needing to leave every once in awhile for her own safety. Torque on the other hand hadn’t been present for that. When it happened, she had been a little delirious, exhausted after fighting off another night fever and breathing struggle. 

Vic also drove while Caliper and Savvy were in the bed of the Mercury M250 truck, laying down to rest. As much as she needed her Lancers to be awake and alert, it didn’t really matter right now since they had two other vehicles with them. A Buick Riviera pulled up next to them, the lancer draped on the roof of the car, messing around with his driver by tapping on the windows and covering up the windshield with the upper half of his body.

“Shaw, you need to stop that, Luc doesn’t need that from you today!” Vic yelled, hoping that the wind would carry her voice to them. The troublesome War Boy flipped her off and signaled on the roof speed up. She could see Luc grimace at that, reluctant to get in front, but the pounding on the roof just got more aggressive the longer he failed to follow Shaw’s orders. The tension between them always made everyone else uncomfortable; they were only going to make this patrol even longer if that was possible, simply because Shaw was a complete asshole and had problems figuring out when enough was enough. 

Lagging behind was another group of War Boys, making sure nothing snuck up on them. They were new and it was their first patrol, so they weren’t quite sure how far back they should be, but she would let them know if they needed to catch up. If she were to be honest, it was a little worrisome to Vic that they volunteered to bring up the rear, but she had to give them a chance. She had been like them once, she reminded herself. Patrol had been extremely intimidating, especially since that without Caliper, she and Savvy might have been victims of a prank that could have cost them their lives. All because someone thought it was a good idea to steal a tank or two of gas from their car and Caliper, who at the time wasn’t that close to them, made the Boys turn around and go back for them. Their idea of jokes were just never going to make sense to Vic and the Girls. 

Speaking of...she couldn’t believe her eyes. Luc was driving closer to the twins’s car and Shaw looked ready to pounce onto the roof. With a huff, Vic sped up and got in between them, blocking off Shaw before he could attempt it. He looked at her with annoyance, almost as if he was considering jumping into her truck, but she was adamant about it. She wasn’t going to let him harass them, they all had enough to worry about, especially since Viper was coming back with Greer signaling for them to slow. When he saw what she was looking at, Shaw perked up and grinned, another plan formulating in his head already. 

“Whatever it is you want to do, don’t,” Vic said firmly, knowing fully well that Shaw wasn’t going to listen to her. Even if she was the captain of this mission, Shaw never respected authority unless it was Ace or Furiosa. Furiosa mostly for her deadly chrome arm but Vic only had her fighting skills. Nothing too impressive to him. At least if she could get to Luc, he could talk Shaw down from some stuff yet it still pissed her off knowing that he wasn’t going to listen to her any other way. Men. 

Once all the cars had been stopped, Viper made her way over to Vic and pulled up next to her, parking her bike. Must be quite a find for her to do so. As a Scout she was supposed to be constantly on the move, so they must be stopping here for a long amount of time, she reasoned. 

“Vic, Greer an’ I found somethin’ ye might want tae look at. Pretty interestin’, but we won’t do anythin’ if ye don’t want us tae.”

“It must exciting though, I can barely understand you.”

“Ach, forget that, lass, we need tae move ‘cause ye need tae see this,” she opened up the door and motioned to her bike, letting Vic know that she was supposed to go alone with her.

When they caught up with the War Boy Scout, it didn’t take Vic long to see what they were talking about. A small Buzzard car was parked in an open space with no signs of movement. Almost like it had been abandoned, but why would they do that? Buzzards were incredibly competitive scavengers, making use out of every single scrap they found. It made her skin crawl. What was it doing here? The Buzzards had no reason to be all the way out here, and better yet, why was it just the one? There must be others; there had to be others. Buzzards were never seen alone.

“Greer, get Caliper, I need her opinion on this, quick,” Vic ordered. The War Boy saluted and went back as fast as he could go, the noise only adding to her uneasiness. Fretting, she bit her thumb trying to figure out the situation. “Viper, what do you think? A lone Buzzard car, that’s not right. Were they exiled? Are they doing something else? Do you remember anything about their culture that Joe or someone else might have told you?”

“Not really, but I would think that this would stand out tae me. We never really discussed Buzzard issues, although I did try to talk tae 'em many times. Had tae go with a couple o' War Boys that spoke the language tae act as my interpreters. Didn’t have anything useful tae Joe, didn’t want tae align with him, but they made it clear that they want more aqua cola.”

“I have a hard time believing that they would know to come all the way out here in an attempt to engage in combat. Maybe Caliper can figure this out, she would know the Boys you’re talking about and she may have more info.” 

Once Greer returned with Caliper in tow, Vic rushed up and grabbed her by the arm. The entire thing just was not sitting right with her, there should be more Buzzards, they never traveled alone and if they did then it was an obvious trap, something was wrong. 

“Do you see that?”

“My eyes work fine, Vic.”

“Stop that, I need your help. Do you remember any War Boys that were captured from the Buzzards?”

“There’s one that I can think of from the top of my head, Morsov.”

“That guy from Furiosa’s crew?”

“Yeah, that’s him. We didn’t really get along, but I heard some of his stories from his time with them as a kid. Never mentioned something like this, but I don’t trust it. We should leave the area.”

“If we do that, we need to go a way so that the twins don’t see them. They love hunting Buzzards, I wouldn’t be able to stop them. Especially if Luc and Shaw team up with them, we could only watch the four of them do something incredibly dangerous-”

“It might be too late, Vic,” Viper cut in, pointing to the Trans Am. “Ye left Savvy behind an' the three o' 'em are probably curious now.”

“Oh no.”

And that was when Vic knew that patrol was about to turn into a bloodbath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OuO


	10. Die Tonight Live Forever Pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Observing the Buzzard car suddenly becomes very intense and it's a race against time and smarts to see who will outlive the other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A loNG chapter by my standards. Why? Because I may not post Wednesday, this is a very busy week for me school wise and I'm struggling with all my classes (pls remind me to never take more than 15 units ever again okay, this is killing me) so, I just wanted to do something to make up for that, if it does. Chapter title from Innerpartysystem, a song that I think fits War Boys a lot. And they also have a song perfect for Immortan Joe, but I'll use that later. Heads up, Shaw is horrible, but if you talk shit, you get hit

Okay, so maybe she had been overthinking about how the twins would react when they saw the seemingly abandoned Buzzard car. Savvy had climbed out from the sun roof of their car and practically bounced on over, excited and a little annoyed that she had been left behind. Torque also walked over, a little sleepy still, and all she did was blink when she laid eyes on it. Her sister was still sleeping, which might be a fortunate thing as her energy usually fed Torque’s in a way that could give Vic some terrible headaches from time to time. But other than that, Torque just kind of looked at the car, then at Vic, then at the car again, car, Vic, car, Vic. Shrug. 

“So that’s what this is all about? Can’t we just...move on?” Savvy asked. She had a point, a single car couldn’t do much damage, and they would have come back this way again when the sun was about to set to reach the Citadel in time for check in. But the nagging feeling of something more sinister just kept on bothering Vic and she couldn’t shake it off. By this time, the rest of their crew decided to catch up to them, probably really curious about the hold up, and Vic hadn’t told them to stay back. 

Once most of them were all out of their cars and trying to figure out what to do, Vic kept tabs on opinions about either moving on or staying or firing a flare asking for assistance. Not back up per say, just hopefully getting Ace’s attention. He had been been on the road for years, clearly he might know why a Buzzard car was just sitting there. Thankfully, Luc and Shaw got into a fight and Shaw was busy pouting in the car, refusing to participate.

“Let’s give this a half hour to an hour or so, when our shadows get a few inches shorter just to see. If its really abandoned and nothing happens, we’ll move on, if it does something, then we’ll be here to stop whatever it is they’re trying to do.”

“You’re putting a lot of thought into this,” Caliper said.

“I know, but...This just doesn’t seem right. I find it kind of disturbing, but I’m not sure why,” Vic went to go sit in the truck, only to realize that it had been left behind. “Oh. Viper, take me back there please.”

“Aye, sure.”

As they made the 5 minute trip, Vic’s brain wouldn’t stop running. It was beginning to get to her, but she just...couldn’t wrap her head around this and as captain, she needed to make decisions that would keep them safe while also keeping the Citadel safe. Even if she personally thought they should work with the Buzzards as they were like them in a way; a society struggling to survive in the wasteland after the fall with their own customs and traditions. 

“You sure you’re alright?” Viper asked just before Vic got in and started the engine. 

“Yeah, I just wish I knew more. I honestly hate not knowing and this is making me super nervous. This seems like it was planned, but how would they know?”

“They might have been keeping watch over the last few patrols, not just ours. I agree with you though. It would be good to stay put for a little bit. It’ll kill time an’ it might be good for the twins to learn a little bit o’ self restraint. Shaw on the other hand. He’s gonna be a real pain in the arse, but nothing we can’t handle.”

“Thanks, Viper,” Vic smiled, glad to have her reassurance. Viper may have taken Travesty’s side when it came to moving around in the Citadel and moving up ranks, but she had always listened to Vic and her ideas before giving her own perspective, something she was also going to miss when they all left. As Viper sped off, Vic sat a moment before driving after her. It was going to be a longer day than usual and this might be the only time she would have to herself. 

Yes, she was going to stick to the decision to stay, and the others were going to have to deal with it. As captain, she might as well do some team building exercises, and maybe, just maybe, Shaw would come around and cooperate for once. 

__________ 

 

He opted to stay in the car while the others gathered around in a formation that would allow them to keep watch on the Buzzard, but still gave them enough coverage in case of anything happening. Vic decided to start out easy, just making sure everyone knew each other’s name, since they had three new team members and the twins hadn’t worked with Luc and Shaw yet. Names were important to her and of course would help in case they needed to catch someone else’s attention during a run.

“We’ll start simple. Five of us are sort of new to the team, so just to kill some time like Viper said earlier, why don’t we just say our names and then figure something else after. Suggestions are always open, except for wanting to go any closer to that car,” Vic looked around and made sure everyone was paying attention. When she was satisfied, she continued. “Okay, I’ll go first. My name is Vic as I would hope you would all know by now since I met with each of you just before this run.”

The three new Boys nodded, still a little shy. 

“Okay, so, Cali, you go.”

“Caliper.”

“Savvy.”

“I’m Torque.”

“I’m Harker!” 

“Luc. Or Luc. Either or, I don’t really care. My shitty lancer who's throwing a fit's name is Shaw.”

“Luck or Luke?” Harker asked, raising an eyebrow. “Why not just pick one name?”

He shrugged. “I like both, is all, it doesn’t matter to me.”

“You’re Lucky Luke now,” Harker said confidently, nodding. “How about that?”

“Sure?” He looked at her, smiling a little, but it was obvious he was a little hesitant to accept the name. He would have to think about it. 

“What about you War Boy? What’s your name?” Torque asked the Boy next to Luc, the first of the three new crew members.

“Cruiser.”

“Axel.”

“Havoc. We’re all brothers.”

“Oh that’s cool! Torque’s my twin sister!” Harker put an arm around Torque and pulled her close, despite Torque trying to get away from her. The one named Havoc perked up and he grinned at them, as if they were the only ones that mattered in the circle. 

“We’re triplets! When our mum died our dad pushed us up onto the platform so that we could be War Boys. How did you get into the Citadel? The same way?”

“Oh, uh,” Torque untangled herself from Harker and tried to figure out how to answer that, but Harker of course went straight to the point. 

“We’re from Gastown and we were taken to be Immortan Joe’s wives.”

The three boys’ eyes widened and their jaws dropped. “You were breeders?” they asked simultaneously. 

“So that’s what that feels like,” Torque shuddered at both their words and how they managed to say the same thing at the same time. “No wonder Travesty can’t stand us.”

“What was it like to be in his presence?” Havoc pressed.

“Was it chrome?” asked Axel.

“Was it shine?” Cruiser followed up. 

The glare that they received from the War Girls told them that they probably shouldn’t ask any more questions, and they shrunk back a little, taking refuge with each other by scooting closer to Axel, the one in the middle. They were so ignorant, it hurt, but if they told them the truth, they wouldn’t believe them anyways.The Immortan could make no mistakes.

“It wasn’t as shiny or chrome as you would think,” Vic’s voice cracked, but the Boys didn’t pick up on it, thankfully. “And we all know Greer and Viper, so that takes care of that.” 

It didn’t go exactly as she had planned, but it was a start. Shaw was still in the car, and at this point she hoped it stayed that way. He would only bring up things none of them wanted to answer and make it okay for the triplets to ask them inappropriate stuff about their past, too. Long as Shaw stayed away from them all, the safer they were going to be. 

__________ 

 

“Are they gonna move?” Harker was laying on her back on the roof of the Trans Am, looking at the Buzzard car upside down, bored to tears practically. Torque was laying her stomach beside her, drawing random, barely seen patterns onto the windshield. Luc wasn’t welcomed back into the car, so he had decided to sit in front of the Trans Am, leaning against the front bumper, resting his eyes. 

“Don’t provoke them,” Vic scolded. She, Caliper, and Savvy were sitting in the bed of the truck, taking the time to count out ammo and making sure everything was loaded and ready to use at the first sign of dangerous activity from the Buzzards. 

“Are we gonna move?”

“If we’re not gonna do anything, we should move, Vic,” Torque propped herself up on her elbows. 

“No, we stand our ground. We show them that we’re not gonna let them intimidate us.”

The twins groaned, but sucked it up. It just seemed so unnecessary to stick around and keep watch on one Buzzard. It was a weird sort of stand off that was creating a lot of tension between them all. The Triplets had gone off on their own even though Vic had yelled at them to stop, but Cruiser, the driver, insisted that they were just gonna go off to find a place to take a piss. Vic didn’t buy it, but let them go. If they didn’t come back in the next 10 minutes, she would send out Viper and Greer to round them back up. 

“Hey, you, on the bike,” Shaw pointed lazily at Viper from the passenger seat of his vehicle. 

“What is it Shaw.”

“Go over there and use your breeder thing to figure out what they’re doing.”

“Excuse me? My breeder thing?” Her face crinkled in disgust and she was just about ready to go over and punch him good in the face. 

“Yeh, I dunno, tell them you’re gonna breed with them and then figure out why they think they’re allowed to be driving in the Immortan’s sacred territory.”

“One, don’t ever talk tae me like that again, Shaw. An’ two, I don’t speak Russian.”

“If Morsov were here, it wouldn’t be a problem,” Vic sighed. It just seemed like this could easily be solved if they were able to go talk to the Buzzards and settle the manner civilly. If they had a valid reason as to why they were where they were, then they would move on and leave them alone. But of course, no one spoke Russian, and she didn’t know if they were the type to shoot first and ask questions later. 

“It would be for Torque,” Harker flicked her sister’s nose, teasing her.

“Shut the fuck up, Harker,” Torque shoved her back lightly, but yeah, it would be a problem.

“How do we even know that there’s people in that car? It’s stayed that way for so long, who would do that?” Savvy tapped against the floor of the bed of the truck, on and off again, trying not to frustrate Vic or piss of Caliper, but she was bored too, and it was something to do for the time being. 

“We’ll go check it out,” Shaw volunteered, getting out of the car and walking over to Luc, plopping down next to him, draping his upper body over Luc’s lap. Horrified, Luc shook his head frantically. He agreed with Vic. They should stay put, there really wasn’t a reason to do anything else for now, and the way his lancer was behaving was embarrassing him greatly.

“We may need to send out a flare to ask for backup if they’re not alone.”

“Aren’t you our backup?” Shaw asked Vic, completely serious.

She blinked. “You’re denser than I thought, War Boy. I’m the captain of the mission, you need to take orders from me, and I’m saying that we need to be smart about this. If we do anything I want others to know where we are and to have backup come just in case. We’re kind of small and while I don’t doubt anyone’s skill here, I don’t know how many Buzzards are in the area. We could be surrounded for all we know.”

“There’s just the one, maybe three at the most. Come on Luc, let’s go,” Shaw nudged his driver and hauled him up, ignoring Luc’s attempts to shake him off. 

“Shaw no, we can’t-”

“You taking orders from an ex-breeder now, eh Luc?” Shaw clamped a hand onto Luc’s shoulder and snorted. “Good one.” 

“Furiosa is an ex-breeder and you listen to her.”

“Furiosa can suck my cock for all I care. She at least has some fucking sense in her, she wouldn’t keep us from doing our shine job protecting the Immortan’s territory from his enemies,” Shaw pushed Luc towards the car. “Drive me.”

“No, Shaw, she said we need to stay put-”

“Luc. Get in the car,” getting shoved violently again, Luc lost his balance and fell hard onto the ground, hitting his head against their car. 

“Hey! What the hell do ya think you’re doing?” Harker rolled off of the Trans Am and ran over, getting in between the Boys and kneeling beside Luc to check to see if the driver was alright. It had been a pretty hard hit, enough for him to be dazed. She cupped his chin, lifting it up, looking to see if it had affected him in any way. “Luc, hey, are you gonna be okay? That didn’t sound like it was fun.”

“‘m fine, ‘s fine,” he weakly tried to wave her off, but he seemed to be telling the truth. 

“No, it’s not-hey, get yer hands offa me!” Harker shouted as Shaw grabbed her shoulder roughly pulling her up, backing handing her when she was facing him. It was enough to twist her around so that she could catch herself before she hit the ground. Torque called out to her, but before she could do anything to help her sister, Harker had pulled out a switchblade and just barely caught Shaw underneath and on his chin as he tried to dodge her counter-attack. It was a pretty deep wound; she liked to keep her knives sharpened at all times, but it had only pissed him off even more. 

Harker was ready to fight him, eager even so that she could let out some pent up anger, but they were interrupted by Viper, tapping Shaw’s shoulder and clearing her throat. As soon as he had turned to look and yell at her, she head butt him hard, causing the War Boy to fall onto his back and knock his head against the car, where he blacked out. It was an act of dominance, and she had just made her point very clear to him. If he had any sense in him, he wouldn’t be touching any of them ever again, but then again, this was Shaw, so she didn't set her expectations for him very high to begin with.

“Wait, he’s my lancer!” Luc protested, panicking, and tried to sit up all the way, but found that he couldn’t. Harker was by his side again and was keeping him down, not letting him go to Shaw to check on him. “You can’t just do that!”

“Watch it mate, don’t want to have to knock you down, too,” Viper warned lightly as she dragged Shaw away to put him in back in the passenger seat of their car. Luc wasn’t the threat and she knew it. Shaw was just going to have to deal with the fact that he went way too far and deserved the beating. 

“He’ll be okay, Lucky Luke, but as I was saying, you shouldn’t take that from him, he’s awful.”

“But he’s my lancer.”

Harker rolled her eyes and left him, returning to Torque. Her sister helped her back up onto the roof, asking if she was okay and checking her injuries, which really were just scratches and bruises from the fall. 

A loud boom caught everyone’s attention and they whipped around to find the source. Black smoke had erupted about 15 klicks away and dust was rising from maybe 6 different sources. When the dust rounded the corner a recognizable vehicle amongst five spiky cars were racing back towards them. 

“The triplets!” Torque and Harker yelled, slipping into their positions fast. Vic glanced at them and then at her crew, trying to figure out what to. A final look at the lone car made the decision for her as it finally roared to life, slowly charging them first but it was gaining speed fast. 

“Caliper! By my side and lancer to Luc until Shaw wakes, now! We have to move out!” Vic climbed into the driver’s seat through the sunroof and started up the truck, her heart racing as she began to lead the way to the triplets, hoping that they were still triplets. Oh, did she hope that they were still triplets. “Viper, Greer! Flank them. Twins, take care of that damn Buzzard!”

“On it!” 

“Let’s fang it!” Vic slammed on the gas and they were all off, in two different directions, feeling a little too alive for her liking, but this was survival, and she was not going to let herself or her team die for such a petty little thing such as Buzzards. 

Oh what a lovely day it was going to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate Shaw, he's the worst. And that's nothing compared to what he does in my other fic, but I'm not posting that ever because I'm just not. I hope everyone had a safe Halloween and had fun! I watched Hotel Transylvania with my mom and dressed up as Velma to hand out candy to trick or treaters since my Halloween party isn't until next Saturday oops


	11. Alive and Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harker goes on a roller coaster of feelings whilst fighting and killing Buzzards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I know much about fighting? Not really. Let alone throwing things off of a fast moving vehicle. Or traveling on top of a fast moving vehicle. /shrugs

“Show us what ya got, Buzzers!” Harker called out to the lone car. She had a thunder stick at the ready, moving with the Trans Am as Torque accepted the challenge the other car was giving them, by threatening a head on collision. It was a game of chicken and Harker knew that Torque wasn’t about to give up, and if they ended up hitting the other car, well. She knew how to tuck and roll, and Torque had always preferred to die in battle than in the Citadel, and at the speed they were going, it would be enough to take out both vehicles. Time seemed to slow down as they neared each other, and the lance in her hands seemed all too real, making her tap her fingers against it in anticipation. She could hear the blood rush through her ears and as the wind whipped past her, the sensation was appreciated, for it might be the last time she felt it. This wasn’t what she thought her life would be, but it was certainly better than what she had imagined, strangely enough. 

The timing had to be perfect. She needed to blind the other car so that Torque could dodge around them, but still have enough space in case they both turned in the same direction to avoid a collision. A few more deep breaths and she took one last final aim by stretching her free arm and pointing at her target before letting it go, using her body weight to put as much power as she could behind the throw. Just as she expected, the car swerved to try and avoid the lance, but she had aimed in a way so that running into it was unavoidable at the distance they were at. Once it struck, Torque banked the car to the left, to get around and behind the Buzzards. Harker grabbed a hand gun to shoot out their tires, trying not to waste too many bullets as patrols didn’t normally turn out like this one was.

“We taking any kills today, sis?” she yelled over the shots and screeching of the swerving Buzzard car. Eventually, the car flipped on its side and it didn’t seem like anyone inside was going to try and exit it, but there was still the possibility of survivors. 

“Leave ‘em, long as their useless, we did what Vic told us to do. It’ll take too much time to finish the job and they’re not the problem, the others are. We’re going back.”

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” huffing, Harker reloaded and put away her gun in the holster and did one last double check as Torque slowed down to make the U-turn. When she was satisfied to see it was just the one car, she climbed on top of the roof. “Mind if I sit inside?”

Torque looked up at her skeptically, but nodded anyways. “Long as you can get out quicker than they can try and take us out, mate.”

“Great, ‘cause I wanna vent about Shaw and Luc. And Viper,” Harker decided to hold onto a lance, putting the non active side on her seat and climbed down it like a pole, holding it in between her legs so that she had a weapon on hand to use just in case. It must look kind of funny. Hopefully no one got the idea to shoot the active side waving around in the air above her. Or let them, see if she cared at this point.

“So, Luc seems like a great guy so far, I like him and I wouldn’t mind being his lancer for a day or night, if ya know what I mean-”

Torque raised a hand up to block Harker from saying anything more since she didn’t particularly enjoy hearing about her sister’s interests in these types of things. “Please do not.”

“Okay, but Shaw? I don’t like him, not one bit. Shaw’s dead to me.”

“I know, I could tell. You were trying to go for his throat. Overreacting, just a little, don’t ya think? I mean, I get why you’re angry, and I am too, but we kind of need him right now, we’re a relatively small group and the Buzzards outnumber us.”

Harker whipped her head to her sister, scowling and clutching the lance so tight, her knuckles were turning whiter than her paint. “Torque, he hit me. I’ve had it with that kind of shit. He’s not allowed anywhere near us, I’ve decided that. And I’m mad at Viper because I can take care of myself, she knows that and yet she knocked him out. I just wanted to fight him, is that so bad?” 

“Harker, we could all tell you had intentions to slaughter him and unfortunately we kind of need him for the time being. Maybe you can fight him later, challenge him in the pits or somethin’. But, ya know what you could do to get back at him when we return?” Torque gave her sister a sly smile and a quick side glance before returning her gaze back on the road, admiring the landscape whiz past them, the different shades of orange and blue starting to blur together. 

“What,” Harker crossed her arms and turned her gaze outside too, annoyed because she felt that Torque wasn’t really taking this seriously enough. Just another 7 klicks before they were back with the others. She willed everything to come closer faster.

“Tell Furiosa what he said about her.”

Harker gasped at the idea, shocked, and erupted into manic laughter, standing up in her seat as they neared their team. He was going to be in a world of hurt after they told the Imperator, and just that thought alone made her extremely ecstatic. Shaw would not be doing anything more than dirty chores for the longest time, and really? He only had himself to blame. “You’re brilliant, absolutely bloody brilliant, sis! I love you, Tori, you know that right?” She leaned down just enough for Torque to hear her. 

A bike was being sent back to them, which meant they were going to receive new orders soon. Torque pointed to it, bringing to Harker’s attention. 

“Love ya, too. Greer’s coming towards us, see what he wants, yeah?”

“Okie dokie!” Harker climbed out again, still clutching the lance, and got onto the front of the car, clearing her throat to get it ready to use so that the approaching War Boy would have the chance of hearing her over the sound of his motorcycle. “Greeeeeer!! What’s going on? Do ya need us?” The obvious answer was yes, the Buzzards were not giving up, and they were getting closer and closer to everyone’s wheels to try and use their spikes to puncture the tires despite the amount of hits they were taking. On top of it all, it looked like they had some new machinery as a saw looked like it was whipping around, threatening to decapitate any unlucky lancer that was in its way. But maybe they truly had it under control, who knew? Greer did.

As soon he got close enough, he shouted back to her that Vic needed them to use covering fire. It was too much at the moment to try and fight them off, so they were going to retreat to Gastown as it was the closest haven they had at the moment. Hopefully, V8 willing, the Buzzards would back off and they would report back to the Citadel with the information they had gathered. If not, then they were basically going to be turned into rust. 

“Tori, we’re needed for covering fire if ya didn’t hear.”

Apparently she did because she tapped the dashboard twice quickly, just barely giving Harker enough time to latch onto something as she went around some sand dunes in preparation for their surprise attack. The front of the Trans Am was technically not made for anyone to be riding on top of at high speeds, making the more rowdier twin feel a little uneasy about how long she would last without falling off. Tucking and rolling could only save you from so much, and at this speed, she would be utterly shredded upon impact. 

Once the ground evened out a bit, she put all her faith into whatever was out there to give her the strength needed to get to the back of the car as fast as she could as there was only so much time before she would be thrown around again. Before she could give it a second thought, she was up and used the lance to her advantage by vaulting off of the hood of the car just enough so that her legs went over the roof. She slid down onto the back, letting out a small cry from the impact and utter terror from worrying about overshooting it. 

Torque gave her no time to try and orient herself as they were climbing up a small hill to cut off the intruding enemies. Gravity was working against her as it was pulling her towards the ground, but she held on for dear life to the first grip she could get her hand on.

“Ya know you need me too, Torque!” She didn’t mean for it come out as harsh as it did, but the earlier talk they had days ago about Torque admitting to trying to throw her off of the car sometimes was still fresh in her mind. Now of course wouldn't be ideal for either of them, let alone the others. 

“Shut up and waste ‘em, just waste ‘em!” Torque yelled back, her voice cracking in hysteria, and it wasn’t long before Harker knew why. Torque had misjudged where everyone was due to the amount of dust rising from all of the cars. Not only were they a few hundred meters away from their team, they were now caught in the middle of the trailing and aggressive Buzzard army. Within minutes they could easily be dead if they didn't do something drastic soon.

By some force of nature on their side that day, two of the smaller Buzzard cars slammed into each other trying to get out of the way of their car, taking them out of the equation with little effort. Harker said a little prayer in thanks and then attempted to get work, with two medium sized vehicles and the colossal saw thing on top of the biggest spiky car there. It was a dodging game for now, with Torque slamming on her brakes, just slowing down out of range of the frantic patterns the smaller cars were weaving. 

“On your left!” Harker thought she heard Torque call out, but she wasn’t sure as her heart was pounding too fast and she felt petrified in her spot, still holding onto her lance and the grip, her legs shaking, threatening to give out on her. The saw was inching closer and closer to them. It was all she could think of, but she snapped out of it just as two arrows passed by her head, one nicking her cheek. 

“Oi! Watch it schlanger eating smegs!” Taking a quick and clumsy aim, she retaliated with the lance, just barely catching the Buzzards that almost got her. The thunder stick didn’t land on the mark she was hoping it would, but they were distracted enough to move on. Taking two grenades, she threw them underneath the car with the saw and ducked to take cover from the debris that was sure to follow, praying again that they would do something to help them survive this run. 

Two grenades were just enough to slightly tip the car over, but it wasn’t enough to actually do any major damage to it. It might have seemed top heavy, but the Buzzards must’ve taken that into account as it righted itself. But it was just what Torque needed to speed up and get around it safely, taking the lead and catching up with their crew as swiftly as they could at this point. Axel and Havoc were whooping and yelling, cheering them on. Savvy and Caliper were embracing each other, probably in relief that the twins made it. Shaw had apparently come to at some point and was scowling, leaning against the Riviera, looking a little disappointed but also slightly impressed. Harker still decided to flip him off, grinning from ear to ear to spite him even more. 

Gastown was becoming clearer and clearer. The Buzzards backed off after a few more klicks of pursuit, but it didn’t seem like it was worth chasing them all the way. Viper and Greer sped off ahead again to let the guards know what was going on and the rest of them slowed, feeling a lot safer now that they were so close to something familiar. Exhausted, Harker got back into the car, slumping in her seat and leaning her head back, closing her eyes. She was crashing back down from the high, and her body ached. The cut against her cheek was screaming from the dirt and wind burn, the blood slightly dripping down onto her chest. Not a great thing, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world long as she took care of it. 

“You need a patch up? I saw the arrow hit you and it looks real bad, Harker.”

“I just need to sterilize it and it should be fine,” Harker mumbled, not really able to find her voice at the moment. “We lived, the Buzzards backed off, and I wanna sleep for a hundred years.”

“You and me both,” Torque rubbed at the bumps but tried to play it off as her rubbing her neck in general. 

“The triplets are safe, right?”

“Looks like it. They’re back in their truck, didn’t get a good look at them, but they didn’t look too hurt from what I could tell.”

“That’s good. Glad they’re all right.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey, Torque?” Harker looked slightly at her sister, a little hesitant to ask.

“Uh huh?”

“We’re going home, aren’t we?”

“For a quick visit, yeh.”

“Wanna go see Mother and Father and say hello? Wanna see if they’re okay? Still...around?”

Torque was quiet for the longest time and Harker didn’t get an answer until everything came to a complete stop. It came with a heavy sigh and silence and a hand on hers in comfort. She knew what Torque was thinking and it only made her squeeze her eyes shut even tighter. She didn’t want to cry after everything that had just happened to them, but she knew. Sometimes it was better to not know than to know for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you miss me???? Hi! I had to take a week break because of school, but the good news is that I turned in stuff that was high on my list of urgency to finish! The bad news is that it wasn't on time, but still. Better to get some credit than no credit.  
> If you couldn't tell by now, I really enjoy writing the twins, especially Harker, oops. I'll make sure to focus on other characters soon.


	12. Home's Around the Corner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harker tells Shaw off, Torque might throw up, and Vic is losing confidence in herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk what the title is rly about, just know that Harker is excited to see her friends again after some time of being away from them.

Torque got out of the car, wiping her nose, hoping no one noticed how wet her eyes were. Harker could have died and it would have been all her fault for the miscalculation on her part and it was just another thing to add to her growing list of how much of a fuck up she was as an older sister. Maybe not older by much, of course, but still. She had technically been born first, therefore she needed to protect her younger sister until the end to the best of her abilities. And twice already in one day she hadn’t done so. 

Shaw had hit her while she watched and she had been thrown into an incredibly dangerous situation while Torque got to sit in the car, driving around in safety (relatively) with her sister out there being jostled around, cut by a rusty arrow, and almost decapitated. She didn’t doubt Harker’s survival skills, that wasn’t it, but she had been careless with her life back there. Harker didn’t deserve any of this. And to top it all off, she denied her the opportunity to check on their parents. Mostly for her own selfish reasons; the thought of seeing her parents after all of these years was too much for her to bear. It always had been. Harker tried to drag her along on some of the supply runs saying that she couldn’t see them without her, but Torque was somehow always busy or just said that she wasn’t feeling well and therefore couldn’t risk going out. She was always disappointing her sister in some way and she was feeling the weight of this more and more often. 

She was feeling a little numb at the moment, so when she realized the triplets had surrounded her, she let out a small squeak of surprise and they tried to hide their laughter. Havoc put a hand on her shoulder to steady himself and while her reflex was to shrug him off, she tried to keep calm, nervously laughing along with them. What was it they had said?

“We asked if your sister’s okay. She was super chrome back there, but she was hit, wasn’t she?”

“Oh, yeah, she’s-she’s fine. Just gotta give her a minute, is all she needs right now,” Torque stumbled over her words, wishing Harker was with her. Everything just ran smoother with her by her side, a kind of reassurance and boost of confidence. Again, she felt bad for being selfish, using her sister as a kind of safety blanket to help herself. And yet, she couldn’t stop thinking this way time and time again. “She’ll be out soon, she knows some of the Polecats here and she never misses an opportunity to see them.”

As if on cue, Harker slammed her car door shut, walking up to them, a forced smile on her face as she wiped away at the blood on her with a spare rag. Torque breathed a sigh of relief and the Boys made their way towards her sister, praising her and asking about her status. 

“Of course I’m fine, not like I haven’t fought Buzzards on my own like that before. Piece a cake.”

“Cake?” they asked, confused. 

“...Never mind. The fuck happened out there? You went off to take a piss and you three manage to find Hel on Earth and thought it was a good idea to bring it to the rest of us.”

“We did. Or at least they did,” Havoc motioned to his brothers. “We were just messing around when we heard engines start up. We went to see what it was-”

“Buzzards lyin’ in wait,” Axel grimaced, hands in his pockets and his head dipped. Cruiser snorted in agreement, scratching the back of his neck, looking at the ground rather intently. Harker guessed it was more of his idea to begin with.

“Shouldn’t be so careless like that, you boys coulda been killed easily, swears it. ‘specially if all three of you died out there, no one would have been able to witness you. I know this is yer first run but come on, mates. Hearing something ya know isn’t one of yer own is a dead giveaway.”

The triplets looked at each other before shrugging and going back to their truck, trying to play it off as if they weren’t bothered by her statement. But she noticed they were all clinging closer together, and she had no doubts that they were probably even more shaken than before after that realization. As they lumbered off, Harker continued on her way to Torque’s side, a hand held out to grasp hers. Just as they made contact with each other, Torque saw movement just out of the corner of her eye and frowned. 

“Harker!” 

Her sister’s smile turned genuine when she heard Luc’s voice while Torque just kind of felt her own demeanor drop. Fantastic. She could tell that she was going to have to compete with Luc for Harker’s attention now and it was slowly getting under her skin already. But she knew it wouldn’t be for long. Whenever Harker found a guy, she tossed him aside after a few days or shorter. Luc shouldn’t be any different. 

Jogging up from the Riviera, Luc was beaming at her, pointing to his own cheek that mirrored hers enthusiastically. “That’s gonna leave such a nice scar!” 

“Isn’t it? I can’t wait until it heals, but I might have to carve it out again in case it’s not as raised,” They had been among the Boys long enough to know what was the right thing to say and what wasn’t. Telling the truth about how she felt about the new wound on her face wouldn’t be acceptable. And truthfully, she wasn’t happy knowing that her face was now marked up for good. At least people would have an easier time knowing the sisters from each other when they weren’t in war paint. There was always a good side to some things, you just had to search for it sometimes.

“If you put dirt in it, the skin raises a bit more, making scars more prominent. Easier than burning.”

“I’ll have to remember that, thanks, Lucky Luke.” 

“Yeah, Lucky Luke, great advice to give to li’l Miss Survivor here,” Shaw snickered, appearing from behind Luc. Involuntarily, both Harker and Torque took a step back, which only made Shaw grin even wider at them. He lazily put an arm around Luc’s shoulders, pulling him a little closer and looking right at Harker, not breaking eye contact with her as if asserting something that she wasn’t aware of. “Didn’t feel like going to Valhalla today, did ya? Gates don’t open to no cowards anyway.”

“That’s enough Shaw,” Luc wriggled out of his lancer’s grip, his smile turning a little worried. He glanced at Harker as if apologizing, or at least in a ‘don’t mind him’ sort of manner. War Boys weren’t known for being sorry about anything. Shaw’s behavior didn’t faze her, and while she had made the decision for both her and Torque to stay away from him now, she couldn’t help standing up for herself right now. 

“I’m not the one who was mediocre enough to fall victim to Viper’s infamous head butt knockout am I? You must’ve been out for a while there, could’ve sworn I saw Caliper climb back over back to Vic and Savvy just as we were finishing up saving your sorry asses.”

“Saving? You call just barely getting out of that mess alive saving us? I almost had Luc turn around to come get you two out of harm’s way,” Shaw scoffed. “Ex-breeders shouldn’t be allowed in combat to begin with. Can’t even be bothered to serve the Immortan right again when he gives ya a second chance. Crying shame.”

“Key word there: Almost. You didn’t. You knew we had it under control and that’s why no one came back for us. Tori meant to appear where she did so that we could take ‘em out of the game easily one by one, like you just saw. And no one here believes that you would go back for us; if you did I know it would be Luc’s idea ‘cause you clearly don’t give a shit about us. As for being ‘ex-breeders’, all of us Girls are much more than that awful word, even if you can’t wrap your head around that. Now, excuse us, we’ve got other people worthy of spending our time here with,” Harker whipped around, linking arms with Torque and they walked off together, heads held high. 

“Nice job, Harker, you tell ‘im.”

“Could not care less about War Boys at the moment, so let’s go do something else. Vic and Caliper look like they’re reporting to the head of the Gastown Boys here. We should probably ask Savvy what they’re telling him and then slip off to find Cooper and Peio.”

“We’re not staying that long, we’ll probably have to go back out again to finish patrol.”

“Then get Savvy to take my place as your lancer and I’ll stay to say hi and get a ride back. Shouldn’t be too hard.” 

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

“Tor, it’s like a 10 minute trip back to the Citadel. I’ll only be gone for a few hours while we practice. I miss being up in the air, and I haven’t visited ‘cause they’ve been kicking me out of the supply runs. They know what I’m actually doing there and it ain’t to help out much.”

“Yeah, but how are you gonna get back up when ya come back?”

“I’m working on it, don’t worry.”

“‘m worried they might keep ya down there and then what? Food’s food, Harker, the Wretched ain’t gonna care about your paint.”

“That...is gruesomely true,” She sighed and kicked at a small rock, watching it skip off. “Alright, if there’s time then.”

“If there’s time I’ll come help ya rat ‘em boys out from the shadows. Like old times, yeh?” Torque smiled, nudging her little sister. 

“Just like old times,” Harker gave her a quick side squeeze. “Maybe you can give it go this time, I’m sure Peio would love to see ya work a pole.”

Torque ignored the mischievous grin. “Fuck, I hate heights, Harker.”

“I know! It’ll be really funny, Tori, swears it on V8 himself,” She giggled and ran off ahead to Savvy, tapping her on the shoulder. Torque tried to catch up, fighting the urge to gag at the mere thought of having nothing but a wire strapped on attaching her to the pole, holding her up 20 feet off the ground, with a little circle thing to stand on for extra support. And the swinging, oh V8 help her, the swinging almost made her knees buckle. She covered her mouth, wishing she had Harker’s neck scarf in case she actually vomited, feeling very weary about sticking around Gastown now. 

As the twins found out from Savvy about what was happening, Viper and Greer had gone off again to check if the coast was clear as it would determine whether or not some of the Gastown Boys would accompany them to defend their territory as well. Vic had told them specifically to just fire a flare and they would be on their way. As Caliper talked more with them about what happened and swapped ideas about why so many Buzzards would be trying to go after patrollers, Vic paced off to the side, mulling over the situation and trying to come up with a new plan and what she would report back. 

Her decision to stay and watch the one Buzzard was still something she believed in, but the decision to not go after the triplets and be more firm with sticking together was gnawing at her. Of all things considered, it was a good thing as they triggered the ambush, letting the others know what exactly they could’ve run into. The lone Buzzard car was probably lying in wait to watch them pass by, give a signal, and then round them up into the others, making them all an easy target. And even if the Buzzards weren’t planning on chasing them into the others, then they still would have been distracted long enough to be surrounded in no time.

However, they obviously didn’t do a good job of blending in with their surroundings, otherwise Viper and Greer wouldn’t have caught sight of it. And that was the other thing. Why had the Buzzards been so confident that they wouldn’t have been seen? Did it mean that previous patrols weren’t taking their job seriously enough, not bothering to take in their surroundings like they should have? Vic’s head was throbbing from the gunfire still echoing in her head as well, so she sat down on the ground, hands supporting her head as she continued to think. She hadn’t planned on something like this to happen today. Usually patrols were boring and routine, with skimming the borders, chasing off enemies, taking in intruders, or collecting scrap metal and other stuff they came across. 

Not knowing what would happen on patrols now made her uneasy and not really wanting to captain anything any time soon. Travesty had been right long ago, she needed to get over not knowing, but it was really hard to just stop panicking over things she couldn’t control. Like the Buzzards. And the fact that the triplets had disobeyed her, but it was also her fault for not making them stay. Frustrated, she let herself sprawl out on the sand, keeping a hand over her eyes to block out the sun. It was a wonder she had been made captain at all. She could have easily lost a majority of her crew today. What good of a captain was she if she couldn’t even protect her crew?

It wasn’t long before Caliper took notice and she walked over, laying down next to her. Instantly, Vic felt a thousand times better as she felt her body relax and her mind clear up a bit. This was just one of the many reasons she enjoyed Caliper’s company. 

“You okay, Vic?”

“Yeah. Just thinking about what happened. Do you have anything new for me?”

“A couple. Come on over, we’ll talk more. They want to hear your theories as well.”

“Fine. But I think most of this will boil down to us just missing an ambush.”

“Most likely, but it’s still good to listen to more ideas,” Caliper stood up, wiping the sand off the back of her pants and Vic followed, not bothering to clean herself up a bit. She stretched out her back and arms as a way to ready herself for any upcoming problems, then walked over to the Gastown Boys once again to figure out what they should do next in case Viper and Greer didn’t find anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing rly to say for this chapter :v  
> thank you for reading!


	13. The Sufferer and the Witness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shelby and Mirage try to figure things out when they spot the fight between Vic and her crew against the Buzzards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why does writing about Mad Max make me want to listen to Rise Against a lot. I mean, a little obvious why but uh. I haven't rly listened to them in a few years. WELP. Helps with titles i guess.

The day was nearing the half way point when Mirage was accepted as a Green Thumb. Shelby would train her and for the time being, she would do more of the heavy work, carrying water from place to place and handling any mechanical problems that needed to be fixed. This was mostly because Viper and her friends couldn’t always come up when they needed help, so it was nice to have Mirage with her and the other Green Thumbs too. 

The only bad part was that Mirage might have to look after the greens right outside of the vault, and she knew Mirage would not want to go anywhere near it. When the time came, hopefully they could switch, as Shelby had an easier time blocking out unwanted memories. It would mean losing some time together, but it would be better for Mirage and her mental health. Her night terrors were coming a little more frequently now, and Shelby had no idea what to do to help. Especially when Mirage still couldn’t bring herself to talk about any time before coming to the Citadel. There was something she was hiding, but Shelby understood. She would be there when Mirage needed her to be, she had promised this many times. Nothing was going to stop her from loving her less just because she was fighting her mind and taking it out on other stuff or other people, as often was the case. 

Now, Mirage knew that Shelby enjoyed talking about plants and taking care of them, but she clearly toned it down when she wasn’t immediately around them, because the entire time after her sort of interview of why she should be working with them instead of working on machines like she had been, Shelby had been enthusiastically talking about the different greens they were cultivating. And Mirage was appreciative of her insight and knowledge as she knew it was only going to help her too in the long run, but. There was only so much she could concentrate on, and the names of plants and their uses were starting to blur together, and it was starting to become tiresome listening to Shelby talk about stuff she didn’t necessarily care about either. 

“And this plant here, this one is really important and it’s what I try to steal most often in order to hoard because Travesty needs it badly. It’s called spinach and it’s rich with iron. Torque might need it as well soon, but for now I’ve been saving it for when we bleed. Travesty gets really weak during that time, and sometimes she can’t get a blood donor. There's only two people that match her blood type.”

“Uh huh, yeah, okay.” Mirage nodded. Shelby frowned and crossed her arms, looking like she was about to give a lecture. It made the fog in Mirage’s head clear up a little as she realized her mistake. 

“So, you really haven’t been paying attention to me.”

“No, I heard you, Shel, this plant bleeds. Kind of weird, huh?” Mirage gestured at the wrong plant and Shelby rolled her eyes, huffing a little like she was about to give up. Mirage felt a stab of guilt in her side, but decided it was better to ignore it and just take whatever it was Shelby was about to tell her. 

“That is absolutely, incredibly, unfortunately, and hideously incorrect, M,” Shelby sighed and looked at the ground, kicking at the dirt. “I’m sorry, I’ve probably been rambling about the greens too much and haven’t let you have a break. Do you want to go and wander around a bit? Or we can sit on the edge, that sometimes helps me calm down from everything. It’s really nice out today, too.”

Mirage looked out into the wasteland, trying to figure out what to do. Shelby didn’t seem too upset, and seemed to have understood that Mirage was feeling a little too overwhelmed at the change in routine. She felt Shelby take her hand in hers, gently squeezing and taking a small step just to be a little bit closer to her. 

“Come on, M, let’s go sit on the edge. I can explain the different plants again, but at more of your pace, not mine.”

“Sounds fair enough,” Mirage gave her a weak smile and they made their way over to a couple of benches, kind of mostly made to put plants on when they needed to be replanted, but it was also an unofficial break area. It was easy to see Gastown from where they were and the silence between them was nice and comfortable. Mirage hunched over to put her elbows onto her knees, just taking in the scenery. And Shelby, out of the corner of her eye, because Shelby just somehow was always so beautiful and was always going to be no matter what happened to her.

The new War Girl kept her hands in her lap, ankles crossed and back straight as an arrow. Very lady-like and proper, could probably balance a few books on her head if Shelby let her stack them. If Mirage was able to picture things just a little bit clearer in her head, she could still see the long, thick dirty blonde hair and the white clothing she wore not too long ago flowing in the wind elegantly. Even now without all her hair and the suspenders, a tank top of sorts, and cargo pants she still managed to look incredibly feminine and pretty. It wasn’t fair. Even the dirt ingrained underneath her fingernails and in patches on her face from scratching itches suited her. 

“What?” Shelby asked, perplexed at Mirage’s staring, wondering if there was something wrong with her appearance or something else. It was still a little hard to interpret Mirage’s expressions as they just never seemed to be much more than a careful neutral one.

“Nothing, just thinking about stuff. You look really...nice.”

“I look nice?” Shelby smirked, making Mirage return her gaze towards the horizon in embarrassment, her face heating up again. “Is that all you can say about me?”

Mirage shrugged, thinking about flinging herself off of the edge but restrained herself from doing so. Not in front of Shelby. Some other time maybe. She furrowed her brow and pushed those thoughts away, burying them for now. “You want me to write you a poem? A sonnet?”

“I would read it again and again until I could repeat it backwards and forwards without any hitches, M.” 

“Liar. You could read it once and repeat it right the first time,” Mirage looked back up at Shelby and nudged her with her shoulder, sitting up just a little bit more now. It was true, she had always had this amazing memory, photographic or something she had explained the first time Mirage asked, making it easy to recall details. 

“You’re right, M, I could. It would still be really special to me and I’d treasure it forever,” It had started out as sarcastic, but it grew fond rather quickly, making the heat Mirage felt spread even more. She was thankful for the fresh coat of paint as always. 

“I don’t know what I could even say that would...get my point across? No, that’s not it,” Mirage bit her lower lip, thinking about what she wanted to say, which was obviously very hard for her to do. “Feelings are hard for me to describe anymore. I might love you, I think.”

“You think?” Shelby raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. “What does that mean?”

“It means I forget what love is supposed to feel like, but I think I feel it with you,” Mirage held her breath, hoping she didn’t say anything offensive or something that would be taken the wrong way. “Not too sure yet, so it’s okay if...ya know.”

Shelby went really still, too still for Mirage’s liking, then raised a hand to scratch at her arm. “I...that’s really sweet, M. This wasn’t exactly the place I thought you would say that.”

“Yeah, probably could have done better, but when you think about it, it’s kind of romantic, eh?” Mirage leaned back, puffing her chest out on purpose before turning her full attention to a distracted and slightly flustered Shelby. “Nice view of Gastown. Nice view of the wasteland. Nice view of-”

A sudden rise in dust in the distance caught her attention and they both fell silent, keeping an eye on whatever it was that was happening out there. Mirage could feel her heart beat faster and sweat start to break out, fear creeping up on her, but she wasn’t sure why. Could be nothing. Was probably nothing. 

“Hey, M? Let’s go back to work,” Shelby stood up quickly and grabbed her arm, forcibly tearing Mirage away from the scene. It made her grow suspicious and Mirage shook her off, feeling very worried and slightly terrified. 

“That’s not them, is it?” Her voice was steady, very controlled, very secure. “Shel, it’s not them, right?”

The other War Girl shook her head no frantically, and grabbed at her arm again, but was shaken off by a now panicking Mirage, visibly shaking at the thought of the others getting into trouble and the thought of knowing that she should have been out there with them, but wasn’t, and therefore couldn’t stop a repeat of what happened long ago, and again when she joined the ranks of War Boys. 

Just as she turned around, she saw the smoke from the first explosion rise into the air. Her knees gave out on her and she might have let out a choked sob, but she couldn’t remember because all she could see was red and orange and dark gray and the sudden feeling of being way too hot in a different way, burning. Not her skin, just the feeling? Of heat against her. It only intensified when the other explosions followed not too long after and there just seemed to be too much smoke. Her throat started to close up, trying to protect itself from getting any more smoke in her lungs, and her lungs in response needed her to cough to get what she had inhaled out.

She felt herself being dragged away from the edge until it was out of her sight, and she shook off whoever was holding her, trying to go back to see what was happening, she had to know if everything was okay even if she couldn’t see from this far away, but she needed to know. She was supposed to have been there with them, keeping this from happening yet again. What it was she was supposed to stop wasn’t clear to her, but she knew it was her responsibility. Too many people were lost this way, all of them close to her. 

Shelby suddenly appeared in front of her, deliberately blocking her view and held her head, lifting her chin up. Her arms were restrained by hidden hands, trying to get her away from the edge again. She couldn’t hear exactly what Shelby was saying, but it must’ve been important because what got her attention finally was her actually saying her full name. 

“Mirage! Mirage, you’re okay, they’re okay. You need to calm down and breathe slower and clearer. Mirage!” Distraction, that was it, she needed a distraction to keep Mirage’s mind off of things she could never escape reliving, but she needed to try before M did anything to hurt herself. It scared her how close she had gotten to the edge of the cliff, almost slipping, but a few War Boys that had been close by had grabbed her, trying to subdue her. They kept asking Shelby what was happening, but Shelby herself didn’t quite know either. Just knew that telling Mirage that she should have been on patrol with the others in the north might not have been the best idea when she was going to be in a position of viewing where they were. "Mirage, you're not hurt, nothing's hurt you!"

“Shel, they’re okay, right? Please tell me they’re okay, I was supposed to be there,” was all Mirage could manage. Her words might have been a bit slurred. Were her cheeks damp with tears? None of this felt real, but she tried to hold on to it, to the feeling of Shelby squeezing the sides of her face just a little too hard as she attempted to ground her, the feeling of people forcing her to her knees, the feeling of sand and dirt cutting into them through her pants. Had to hold on. 

“Yes, Mirage, they’re okay, they’ll come back safe, I promise you, okay? Vic wouldn’t let anything happen to anyone on her team, she has the best survival record to date. Hey, M, are you listening to me? Look me in the eyes so that I know.”

Mirage tried to regain focus, but it was just a little too difficult. Flashing images were rapidly going through her head, leaving her feeling weak and spent, and it was easier if she wasn’t there because it would all stop then. Couldn’t be there any longer, so she left, suddenly feeling like everything was drifting away. She wanted to stay for Shelby, but...this was nice, too. 

Shelby was about to sigh in relief when she realized that Mirage was gone for the time being, replaced with someone that was quiet and still, not quite meeting her eyes, and looking incredibly distant. The person stood up, dusted herself off, and mumbled something about going to back down into the Citadel to get something to eat. She’d be back to fulfill her duties later. 

Confused, the War Boys let her go, and it only raised more questions, but Shelby didn’t have time to answer them. Didn’t know how to answer them. Mirage only did this when she got too stressed out or when she woke up from night terrors. It’s why she always asked if Mirage knew where she was when she woke up after them, knowing it was important to ground her before she drifted too far. 

Trailing her, Shelby waved the Boys off, telling them that it was nothing to worry about, she was just overwhelmed by the job as she was a new recruit. They looked at her skeptically, but didn’t press any further. She was the favorite of the Imperator that looked after the crops for the Immortan, and therefore held a certain kind of power over them. They didn’t quite feel like being punished for getting into her business. 

“M? Hey, M. Where are you going?”

“I’m getting something to eat. I’m hungry,” Her voice was flat and she kept her focus forward. “What’s it to you anyways? Why are you following me? Do I know you?”

“It’s me, Shelby. I’m your friend and I’m worried about you, you get lost easily in the tunnels,” Sometimes this worked, sometimes it didn’t. Shelby didn’t always know what to expect when Mirage was like this. 

“Tunnels?”

“Yes. M, come back, we need to stick together-”

“Fuck off. I know where I’m going.”

“M, please don’t talk to me like that.”

“Then don’t talk to me like I’m a child.”

Fair enough. Shelby caught up and tested to see if Mirage would accept having someone walk next to her. She received an odd and questioning look, but it seemed as if the person Mirage was now could still recognize her somewhat as she shrugged and didn’t say anything more, even walking slightly closer to her, but still keeping a safe distance.

“Just...come back when you’re ready, okay?”

“Okay?” the person squinted at her, as if trying to place her clearer. “Whatever that means.”

“M, I care about you,” Shelby didn’t expect an answer back, but was surprised when she at least got a nod in response. Hopefully that meant that this wouldn’t last too long and Vic would come back with everyone in one piece, proving to Mirage that not everything was going to turn out badly. She took a deep breath and tested Mirage again by entwining their fingers together and was pleased when this wasn’t rejected either.

“You’re fucking weird, you know that right?”

“I know, M. I know.” 

They walked together, keeping the pace even, and Shelby would be patient and wait. Would be there for Mirage when she came back, would be there for the person who was temporarily taking her place. She would be there always, just like she promised her many times before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to mention real quick that if there's a character here that has a name that matches an OC of yours or someone you know, it's not that OC. I just kind of use names from the top of my head and I've found that (mostly War Boys) names overlap sometimes, so.  
> Also, I had a writing block at first, but now I can't stop writing??? why does this happen.  
> And one more thing: would spinach grow here? im gonna say yes, because it's rly useful for those with anemia


	14. Hemorrhages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more about Lexus and interactions with War Pups

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a little late probably?? oops

War Pups are hard to take care of. They’re loud, reckless, willing to fight anyone that looks at them funny, and somehow constantly hungry, although that was understandable, to some extent. They get extra moody too, depending on their age, so back talking happens quite often, unfortunately. Which is why Lexus considers this her own personal hell, because even if she attempts to speak and risk losing her voice altogether, they don’t really listen to her. And to make things worse, they were outside in the training area, which meant keeping Pups in close quarters was going to be even more difficult.

Travesty was with her this time, tending to all the rascals as best as she could, trying to get them to be quiet so that the both of them could start their lesson on motorcycle parts. They had decided to take on the job just to mix things up a bit, and because Lexus was done trying to work with the Boys in the repair bays. Travesty could only communicate so much for her, and Lexus felt like she was looked down on simply because she couldn’t talk, which was ridiculous. Once she got better at fighting, she would probably start speaking with her hands in a different way than usual. This was how far she had come, from not wanting to raise a finger in fear of backlash after the encounter with that War Boy to figuring that since nothing else could be taken from her, why should she worry about anything else.

One good thing about today now was that Duncan unexpectedly showed up, dropped off by Niles who winked at them and then left. He just somehow knew that the Girls were having a hard time keeping the Pups under control and with Duncan there to set an example, there might be some hope yet. 

Except that he was just like his mother and liked to do his own thing. Which meant that technically he was leading the other War Pups, but not in the way Travesty and Lexus thought he would, but they couldn’t complain too much. Long as they held his attention, they held everyone else’s too. Duncan seemed to be a pretty popular kid. 

“Alright Puppies, settle down now, Lexus here is gonna sign some stuff. We know youse might not understand what she’s talking about, so I’m actin’ as her interpreter. How many of ya are excited to learn a li’l more about bikes?”

A majority of hands were raised, including Duncan’s. It made sense, Viper preferred to ride solo and she probably told him of her adventures out on the Road, maybe even playing it up. It was obvious at this point that he loved his mother dearly and looked up to her. All the Girls hoped it stayed that way. 

“Why’re they called bikes?” came a confused voice.

“‘Cause ’s short for motorbikes. They’re also called motorcycles. ‘m sure there’s a difference but since everything is modified anyways, don’t think it really matters, Pup.”

“Are motorcycles better than cars?” Another Pup in the back asked. 

“Nah, nothin’ beats a car with a V8 engine,” An older Pup responded. There were several nods and yells in agreement. The Pup in the back put his head down, trying to make himself smaller and unseen. Travesty instead decided to give her own opinion on the matter.

“Depends on yer own taste, Pup. Sometimes ’s nice to ride by yerself out there, just don’t get caught up in a sandstorm. Those things’ll wipe you out in nothin’ flat since yer gonna weigh pretty much next to nothing. Can be easily swept away even before ya can get inside. Seen a couple of War Boys die out there like that. ‘s not historic at all, no one’ll remember ya.”

Lexus kicked Travesty in the shin, disapproving of her talk about dying historic to kids so young, but she had to in a way. How else were they gonna listen? If they tried to tell them that it was okay to pick living instead of dying out on the Fury Road, they would lose them. Couldn’t trust them anymore, they were trying to tell them something different than what they were used to. Travesty threw a mocked look of hurt at Lexus before continuing on. Again, she managed to miss the hands being dragged down Lexus’s face and the eye roll that went with it. 

The Pups however, found it to be funny, even though they had no idea as to why Lexus was annoyed with Travesty. 

“Right, so here we go,” the lanky War Girl clapped her hands together and then swung them in a presenting manner to her partner. “Lexus? You’re up, love.”

Finally. Quicker they could get this over with, the faster she could figure out a way to get Travesty alone. To get rid of pent up stress, that was the main reason. Of course. She inhaled sharply and let it out slowly. Now or never. 

She mounted the bike and motioned for the Pups to get closer. From there, she turned it on, revving it a little to add to the excitement. She pointed out the braking system, how to properly ride this particular model, where the tank was, the simple stuff. She made the back off and put it all together, dismounting after turning off the bike. She made a show out of checking the gas tank, putting a little bit of guzzoline into it, closing the hatch, and then remounted it and turned it back on. Gave it another rev, shot forward just a little bit, using the brakes to slow down and come to a halt about 8 meters away. 

There was some more explaining about how bikes worked, more pros and cons about using a bike, talk about keeping your lancer safe if you were partnered with someone, and last but not least, customization. A light bike was ideal for scouting and reporting to a larger party, a heavier bike was good for combat. Long as it was loaded with thunder sticks and you had a chrome lancer, you could do a lot more with a bike than a car. 

A few times some of the Pups got bored and tried to sneak off, but Travesty got Duncan to go after them each time. Better if it was one of their own than an adult trying to tell them what to do. Only one Pup seemed to oppose Duncan because he was much older, but with an evil eye and sneer from Travesty, he came scurrying back. He apparently was one of the Pups that had heard the rumors that were slowly spreading around the Pups that she was capable of leaving burn scars like the ones on her head from just a touch if you got on her bad side. Travesty would find that out later and be flattered by it. 

The lesson came to an end and it seemed to be successful. For the next few days they would meet again with the Pups and quiz them on various stuff, just for them to make sure the Pups knew enough to help out their mentors later on when they were partnered up. Basics were good to know for now.

After getting back into the Citadel, Lexus was a little too tired to do what she had hoped to do with Travesty earlier, so they got their lunch and found some place to sit and eat with little interruptions. 

Just as they were finishing up, Niles was leading his group of Pups and gave them a quick wave, trying to usher the little ones to their bunks. They had daily naps since they were still young and he and his crew were very adamant about them all getting enough rest. Duncan strayed behind, looking at them both and opened his mouth a few times as if to say something, but instead decided to just come over. 

Niles called him back, but Travesty held up her hand, letting him know that it was okay. They’d take him back after finding out what he wanted. Niles shrugged and continued on his way. They had accepted responsibility of Viper’s son, they would have to answer to her if anything happened. 

Duncan seemed to be a little shy, a little unusual for him. He probably needed more of an invite, so Travesty stuck her hand out and smiled. 

“Come on over, Duncan, ya li’l laddie.”

His eyes brightened and he instantly regained his confidence, taking her hand and climbing into her lap. 

“So, what brings ya over to us, love?”

“How do ya know what she’s sayin’? Maw tried tellin’ me, but I don’t get it,” Duncan looked like he was trying to work out Lexus through sheer concentration, but of course it wouldn’t be that easy. Lexus just raised an eyebrow at him, amused. 

Travesty shrugged. “Ya learn through trial and error sometimes, mate. She’s got a book that explains things more with pictures, but ‘m sure yer mother will show ya one day.”

“Is that scar on yer neck why ya can’t talk?” He asked, eyeing Lexus’s throat warily. It was at this point that the Girls noticed that he seemed to have lost his accent, replaced with a more clear voice. Unlike Viper though, you couldn’t tell that he was supposed to have one. Even when she spoke her clearest, it was obvious she wasn’t from around these parts. Must be because they didn’t get to see each other much. 

“Well? Ya wanna tell him?” Travesty tried to be casual about it. It was a hard story to tell, not only for Lexus, but for her as well. She didn’t wake up that night to accompany Lexus while she went out.

Lexus nodded. 

“Alright, you earned this ‘cause you were sucha big help earlier. I’ll narrate while she acts it out, is that okay with ya?” Travesty smiled softly.

“Aye, ‘s just like how maw tells her stories,” Duncan got down so that he was in front of them and settled down by crossing his legs, placed his elbows on his knees, and resting his head in his hands. 

“Okay, so, Lexus here never really spoke much. There really wasn’t a need to. Her mother was deaf and her father never let her speak unless it was asked of her. In her free time when she was alone with her mother, they talked to each other using sign language or lip reading. 

“They all lived in a van with a few others. A patrol group found them and took them all as captives. Her mother was taken to a safe place as she was pregnant and once the child was born, she would become a Milking Mother. Her father became a blood bag, and the others, well. She hasn’t seen them around. 

“As for her, she was taken to the Immortan and ‘e wed her. All of his wives-”

“The breeders?”

“Yes. We don’t like to be referred to as that,” Travesty didn’t bother to hide her disgust and neither did Lexus, who pretended to gag.

“Oops, sorry.”

“And that’s why you’re our favorite,” Travesty grinned. “‘e called each of us his wife, but we’re aware that we were known as somethin’ else. Yer mother on the other hand had this weird grip on him, and I would call her The Wife, up until Angharad that is. ‘e really likes her, but that’s a tale and a half in itself.

“‘e asked, or rather, required, that his wives be educated and have one gift to show ‘im. Hers was her voice. When she sang, everyone stopped what they were doin’ and listened. Her voice commanded attention and respect and it was incredibly entrancing. Siren quality, it was,” Travesty threw a fond glance at Lexus. The other War Girl smiled in a silent thanks and continued acting out everything.

“Now, remember that she only spoke when she was asked to. That wasn’t very often, so her voice was unused to all the attention it was suddenly gettin’. A couple a times, in the middle of her performance, her voice would just stop and she would clutch her neck. From what she’s told me, it felt like somethin’ popped in her throat and then somethin’ trickled down for a few minutes. She wouldn’t be able to speak for awhile and she was hoarse for a few days followin’. Slowly, she couldn’t sing like before. Her gift had been stolen by time. 

“She could still talk, but she never liked to for long periods of time as her voice would give out and her throat would begin to hurt. Everyone avoided tryin’ to get her to speak and we eventually learned how to communicate through other methods. A few of us know sign language while others are better at lip reading. 

“Lexus, fortunately or unfortunately, however ya wanna look at it, wasn’t able to give him a child. She ceased to be a wife and therefore took refuge with us when she had to leave the quarters. One day, she was mindin’ her own damn business when she was attacked by a War Boy. ’e’s long gone by now, we all made sure of it.”

“Why would he attack you?” Duncan was horrified. 

“Good question,” Travesty looked at Lexus, knowing that she wasn’t allowed to elaborate if she didn’t want her to. She shrugged and Travesty decided to go on. “Basically the Citadel had settled down for the night and she was out walking around alone because of her insomnia.”

“What’s that?”

“It means ya have trouble fallin’ asleep, no matter what you do. She had a lot to adjust to. Lexus ran into a War Boy, literally. He was workin’ on somethin’, started botherin’ her and they started arguing. It turned into a shouting match and he decided that he didn’t want to listen to her anymore.

“Anyways, it wasn’t the slashing she received during the middle of the attack to try and shut her up, it was the fact that she hadn’t used her voice as frequently as before, so her screamin’ ended up stressing and costing her the rest of her voice. She can only whisper, but she avoids it like the plague. ’s real special if she does. You can still hear some traces of her voice as it was before,” Travesty trailed off, thinking back to when Lexus could speak freely. She was still angry with the War Boy, but even angrier with herself. Lexus told her repeatedly not to blame herself, but it was hard not to. 

A hand was on her shoulder and it squeezed lightly. She looked up and Lexus just pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. It made Travesty give a little laugh and she returned her focus onto Duncan. 

“So that’s the story, li’l laddie. Lexus came to the bunks, woke us up, and we went to Organic. ‘e patched her up best ‘e could. Can’t complain, the cut wasn’t that deep. It’s healin’,” Travesty stood up and so did Lexus. Duncan took the hint and stood up as well, looking at Travesty expectedly. 

“Oh alright, ya lazy Pup. Come on then. You would be better off if Lexus did this, she don’t got the bony hips I do,” Travesty scooped him up, holding him like she had seen Viper do many times, and they all walked back to the War Pup bunks. Niles took him afterwards and the Girls headed back to their own quarters. 

When they got there, they saw Mirage and Shelby in their bunk. It didn’t take much observation to tell that Mirage was having a kind of episode, since Shelby was keeping her distance and looking concerned while Mirage had a completely blank look on her face as she ate. Usually those two couldn’t seem to stop talking or holding each other, and if they had been fighting, then they would be separated for as long as they could. 

“Should we go see what happened?” Travesty asked Lexus.

Later, Lexus signed. Give them space. 

“Okay. Might as well go back to the room, huh? No one should be there since we know where those two are,” Travesty grabbed Lexus’s ass, laughing when Lexus squeaked in response and slapped her hand away. “Come on then, love. Don’t got much time ‘fore the others get back. ‘m up for anythin’ you’re up for.”

Smirking and biting her bottom lip, Lexus took Travesty’s hand and led her away. She was still tired of course, but also still stressed. It would be nice to let go of some of that tension while they had the opportunity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Guess who hemorrhaged their voice at a concert almost 4 years ago!!! Me!!!!!! It wasn't even during the main act but apparently I was screaming and yelling too much to the point that yeah, something popped in my throat. Not a good experience. Please do not strain your voice ;.;  
> I just wanted to get these scenes out of the way cos I think it helps show the relationships between the characters just a little bit more idk, thank u for reading!


	15. Daughters Turn to Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic is worried as usual and the twins sneak off, with Harker leading the way, accidentally severing ties with their mother in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, maybe not so accidental, but you'll see.

Viper and Greer had been gone for probably all of 10-15 minutes, and she knew it would take them a little while just to give the all clear and be completely sure about it, but it was starting to worry Vic to the point that she felt her stomach lurch from anxiety a couple of times while she listened to the head of the Gastown Boys.

“Definitely jus’ an ambush, nothin’ more. Coulda been worse, but ‘s somethin’ odd. We’ll double up on patrols. Prolly jus’ lookin’ for trouble and ‘sources.”

“Viper mentioned that they wanted Aqua Cola, but we don’t really have any,” Vic kept on trying to decide if she wanted to rest on her right leg or left leg. Right leg or left leg. Caliper could just feel the skittishness radiating off of her and it put her on edge as well. 

“Look, why don’t we go wait in the car. They should be coming back soon.”

“I’ll send out my scouts as well after gettin’ the clear from the Imperator. Polecats, the both of ‘em. Should be able ta spot ‘em in no time and send ‘em back. We’ll take it from ‘ere.” 

“Great. Do you mind if we stay here to refuel?”

“You’re our guests for the time bein’, jus’ don’t make it too long.”

“Righto, will do,” Caliper patted him on the shoulder twice in thanks and wrapped an arm around Vic’s shoulders, leading her away. 

Their Boys were getting restless, and Shaw was itching to start a fight with anyone other than Luc, feeling like he had messed with him enough since they’ve been out here. Maybe some drama between the triplets would be fun to start. Vic decided to ignore it for now. Fine. She couldn’t deal with that right now, two people were out there, one of them being similar to a motherly figure to her that she deeply respected (although, she would never it to Viper’s face), risking their lives just so that she could give a full and complete report when they got back. Speaking of motherly, if anything happened to Viper out there...she stopped herself before she could finish that thought. Viper always managed to live through whatever it was life threw at her. 

“You should probably rest your eyes for a little bit, Vic,” Caliper suggested, opening up the door for her. 

“Long as you and Savvy can keep an eye out and let me know what’s going on,” climbing in, Vic kind of plopping down into the driver’s seat, putting her hands over her eyes before rubbing her temples in circles to calm down. 

“We always do.”

“I know, Cali.”

“Oi, twins are runnin’ off, want me to go get them?”

Vic almost pushed Caliper out of the way, but then contemplated it some more and resettled. “Actually...let them go. We know where they are, this is their home, it should be okay.”

“If you’re certain.”

“Unfortunately, ever since those Buzzards showed up, I’m not certain about most things now,” Vic sighed. This was turning out to a much longer day than she had anticipated. 

__________

“You two are gonna go inside aren’t ya?” Savvy asked after telling them what Vic and Caliper were doing. 

“Er, yeah. ‘s our town, Savvs,” Harker crossed her arms, waiting for any challenges from the other War Girl. Savvy looked at the both of them suspiciously, then nodded. 

“‘kay, whatever. I‘m not sure how much time we’ve got here, but ‘m sure you two will figure things out. Ya always seem to.”

“Of course.”

“Why wouldn’t we, Savvs?” Harker managed to give her a quick side hug before being shoved away. 

“You’re too much, ya know that, Harker?”

“I tell her every day, Savvy,” Torque agreed. Harker’s face fell, pretending to be sad about both of them ganging up on her, all friendly like. 

Then the twins overheard what they wanted to hear and looked at each other, eyes brightening and mouths sharing the same smile of excitement. Savvy rolled her eyes and shooed them away.

“You hear that, Tori? We’re guests for the time being,” Harker didn’t waste a single second longer and sprinted further into the town, moving swiftly and pushing past people with ease. Torque on the other hand settled for jogging. The bumps weren’t doing that much to her right now, but it was better to be safe than sorry. It felt strange to be back home. Or sort of home. They had only been at the Citadel for coming up to five years now, but it felt more familiar than here somehow. 

She kept Harker in sight and at the very last minute realized exactly where she was going. It made her stop dead in her tracks. No. She couldn’t do this. Not now, she had specifically told her that they were not going to visit. Okay, maybe not explicitly, but she thought her answer had been pretty clear regardless.

A shout of “Visitors!”, a wait time of maybe thirty seconds, the curtain hesitantly being moved to the side, a face she hadn’t seen in years, worn with time. And she was suddenly 14 years old again. 

“Mum!” She wanted to shout. Wanted to run up and hug her tightly, then apologize because she was a little too fragile for such affection anymore. She watched from where she had stopped, tried to figure out what was being said. Harker seemed to be growing more and more desperate and she motioned for Torque to come closer. To prove it was really them. But Torque couldn’t move. She had grown so used to her new name that when it hit her that she was being referred to by her birth name it was almost a little too late. 

“Wait!” Her legs moved without her telling them too and she was getting closer. The woman looked at her strangely. Now that she was close enough she could tell that she might not be all that happy to see them. 

“So. It is you two then.”

“What’s wrong with that?” Harker asked, distressed. “We’re the same girls, Mummy, you and dad raised us.”

The woman whipped her head back to Harker. “You are to call me Mother. Far as I recall, you were out most of the time while your sister here stayed with us to take good care of her ailing parents.”

“She said she could handle it. You never minded me going out with my friends, but whenever I tried to get her to go out and visit people, you always made her feel guilty for leaving, even if it was just for a few hours.”

“I should’ve minded with ya. I made a mistake, letting you go out there. Now look at yerselves,” she absolutely disgusted with them, and it was only then that the twins remembered that they looked drastically different than when they left. “White war paint. Dirty clothing. Stained hands. Bodies marked up and scarred. Masculine. Probably harmed or killed people, too by the looks of it! Glory, I expected better from you both, ‘specially from you-”

“Mother, we didn’t want to end up like this, things are different at the Citadel,” Torque didn’t mean to interrupt and she clamped a hand over her mouth after realizing her mistake. In fact she regretted it deeply, but it was a habit now, talking over people to correct them. 

“And yer manners, where have they gone? Cut me off again and you’ll be punished for that,” she practically snarled back at her. “You’re not the girls I raised. Not anymore. You’re just like those filthy War Boys. If ya wanted to join something so crude, you two should’ve stuck around and gone out with our Boys. Not that ’s a step up by any means.”

“Mother, where is Father,” Harker had enough. If Mother wasn’t going to welcome them, then Father might.

“He’s not around anymore. Died. From those bumps of his,” their mother kept it factual, as if she had done all her mourning and felt nothing more about it. “Just me now. Don’t worry about it though, got someone who comes to check on me daily. A young boy, with red hair.”

“We didn’t want to leave, Mother, the People Eater took us. You were there with Father the day it happened.”

“How excited we all were,” came the sarcastic reply. “Getting you ready for departure. Was it worth it? Leaving us behind?”

“Immortan Joe wanted us, the People Eater obliged, we had to go Mother,” Harker said curtly. “You know what happens when the Immortan doesn’t get what he wants.”

“Should’ve stopped it. But you were so happy to go. No respect for your parents at all.”

“Mother, we came to visit and say hello after all these years. You’re not the same. You’re bitter and resentful and not very caring. What happened?” It was just barely above a whisper, but Torque was really hurt. And by the looks of it, so was Harker by her clenched jaw and fists. More angry, but still hurt. 

“I was abandoned by my two lovely girls and you expect me to welcome ya with open arms? Pick up where we left off? Who do ya two think you are?” 

“Yer daughters. Family. Mum, I don’t have much time left. She was the one that wanted to come by. We never forgot you or Father. We didn’t know what we were getting into, it was an honor. You said so yerself, and Father helped us look presentable that day.”

“Should’ve stopped it. Should’ve never let you go, should’ve fought harder to keep you here, keep you protected. How dare you two go off like that, saying you don’t have much time for us! For me,” She finally took a good look at Torque and she paused the scolding, taking in the bumps. Her eyes widened. “You…” She reached a hand out, but couldn’t bring herself to actually touch them. She retracted the hand back. 

“Mummy, we just wanted to visit.”

“My darling…oh, darling, not you too,” she turned to Harker and looked almost disappointed that she didn’t have anything. “And of course, you got lucky.”

Harker smacked her forehead, her expression showing off that she had an epiphany. “Now I remember why I was never home, I blocked that out soon as I could! You loved her more than you loved me, and you always said it to my face! She was the good twin, the dutiful twin, the well behaved twin, the favorable twin. The twin that would be married to a good man and warrior, and start a family of her own while I had my own kids, but no husband or father for them. Me, the twin you just said should be sick instead of her. You’re awful. So awful. Intolerable. And to top it all off, I took after ya!” 

Harker was raising her voice and attracting a lot of unwanted attention. She couldn’t stop herself from containing her spitefulness. “I hope ya join Father soon, or better yet, don’t. Since you hated me, does that mean you hate yerself? Father always mentioned that I was just like Mother when she was young every time I stopped by with my friends, who just happened to be all boys, since there weren’t many girls my age around, if at all! I hope you hate yerself. Good riddance.”

She was about to leave by herself, but suddenly turned back around and waited for Torque to join her. Torque was torn between wanting to make things right between Harker and their mother, but also felt drawn to Harker’s side and going with her, where ever it was. She needed to work on that, she was her own person. And if she wanted to stay with her mother for a little while, then she should be able to. But she should also not feel so guilty because her mother was still being taken care of, and she shouldn’t alienate her sister just because her mother wanted her to. 

“My dear sick child, please stay this time. Don’t leave me again,” her mother took her hand in hers and clasped the other on top, giving it a good squeeze. She smiled softly, but Torque could tell it wasn’t all that genuine. More hopeful than pleading.

“If I stay, you need to apologize to my sister for telling her you wish her dead,” Torque slid her hand out of her mother’s grasp and backed up until she was by Harker’s side. 

“What?”

“Ya need to forgive my sister for wanting to protect herself from you and yer words. She wanted to have fun and freedom. Did it cost her? Yes. More so than it cost you. You lost two daughters, yeh, I’ll give ya that. But back there, in that...place. Nothing could bring more pain to a person. To know that they were confined, no where to run to, yer own sister pushing ya away ‘cause she didn’t want to be fussed over. Wasn’t used to being fussed over ‘cause all my time spent here was fussin’ over you and Father. Didn’t feel like I deserved the attention,” She took a deep breath before pressing forward, feeling a little scared as she continued. Harker must’ve been able to tell as she held her hand. 

“So forgive us if we romanticized what life was like back here. Forgive us for wanting to come see our parents after all this time. Forgive us for needing to leave you a second time, just as we forgive you for putting a wedge between us. For making me want to please you all the time and feel resentment towards my own twin, someone I just got to know finally after all these years. We’re around 6,800 days old, it took the past 1,000 days or so to find out that she’s my best friend, someone I never want to let down, and that’s on my own accord. She’s never once made me feel like I have to take care of her. I want to take care of her. Mother, she’s family.”

The woman gave one last hard look at them, then sighed. “Not anymore.”

She disappeared back inside of the home and pulled the heavy curtain back over the entrance, leaving Torque and Harker speechless. 

“I told ya we shouldn’t have come here,” Torque finally said, trusting her voice again to not crack. “I didn’t exactly know why, but I know now. ‘m sorry Harker.”

“I can’t believe I forgot how much she despised me,” Harker opened her arms up and Torque gladly accepted the hug, even if felt that Harker was the one that needed it the most. “I just remembered that they were sick.”

“They were. Father’s death might’ve changed her. Her entire family left her alone, and she’s getting older. Age and sickness probably has something to do with it. It has to, she does love you, Harker.”

“You would know, you could tell she was different,” Harker pulled away and began moving away as fast as she could without breaking into a run. “Come on, Torque.”

“Where are we going now?” Torque caught up, walking in sync with her. 

“Back to the crew.”

“Why?”

“I don’t feel all that great right now, Torque,” Harker was keeping her answers short. It worried her but she didn’t want to push Harker anymore than she already had been. 

“Okay, sis.”

On their way back, two Boys ran past them, knocking Torque over. Harker managed to catch her before she fell all the way and started cussing the Boy responsible out, but then paused. As Torque gathered her bearings and was able to stand up, she saw that the Boys had stopped too and were looking at them funny. Harker’s jaw was wide open and then it clicked. 

“Peio? Cooper?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had trouble writing this chapter. Initially I wanted them to have a healthy relationship with their parents, but something told me that if Harker felt more comfortable at home, it would have been one. At least Torque is addressing the issue of maybe being too dependent on each other oops. Anyways, can you guESS WHO'S GONNA BE A TEMPORARY POLECAT??? After that, they'll be going back to the Citadel and time will progress siGH


	16. Fresh Meat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harker gets to be a temporary Polecat again, Viper puts the twins and Greer in their place, and Shelby talks to Savvy about Mirage, basically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had trouble writing this part, and originally I wanted to do a three chapter update today, but this is all I can do cos well, i'll explain at the end.

Days like this were just too long. And boring. And made him agitated. Nothing really happened around Gas Town and he was itching for a fight or two. Maybe more. Maybe less, if he could get into a comfortable position and sleep. Might have been a no no to sleep on the job, but what the fuck, the sun was hot, he was tired, this shade was nice, and the wall was cool to his skin. He slid down the side of the clay warehouse where large supplies were kept as he watched over the cars. No one else was on watch duty with him, although he had gotten word that someone had been called for...something. He didn’t really pay attention and just wanted the kid to shut up, but nodded and shooed him off instead. Now, it was just him, the cars, the supplies, and the heaviness of sleep behind his eyes. 

The two Polecats who had been called upon had two Girls tagging along with them, giggling like crazy, one nervous and one playful. From what he could tell, it seemed as if they all knew each other, which was fine with the Imperator in that sense. He sniffed and picked at his ear, flicking away the grime, debating whether or not he should go and find out what they were planning on doing. It would be good to be in the know and hopefully they wouldn’t think he was being lazy. Which he was, but, that was beside the point. He got up, discontented from having to do so, and watched.

He didn’t have to wait for long to see for himself. They dashed up to a car and one of the girls held a wheel and got into the driver’s seat, the other three climbing into position as she configured the wheel to the car and started it up. Normally it was okay for War Boys to switch places with the Gastown Boys when necessary, but he wasn’t used to seeing War Girls. Immediately, red flags went up for him and he advanced towards them, demanding to know what they were doing, preparing to flex his power all over if need be. 

One of the Boys was telling the other Girl something and she was waving him off, like she had heard whatever he was saying numerous times, then started climbing up the pole with surprisingly fast agility. It was really graceful to watch, and he stopped mid-sentence just to look at her move. When she noticed him after harnessing herself at the top, she gave him a dirty look, and he could have sworn he heard a “piss off” enter his train of thought in her voice. He immediately knew better than to yell at her, so he just waved the Boys over and asked them what they were doing with them.

“They used ta live ‘ere, known ‘em since we were tiny tykes, Imperator,” one of them said, hands on his hips, a lazy grin on his face. 

“Heh, the one on top’s been practicin’ with us for a long time, she knows what to do, mate,” the other laughed lightly, knowing that they could get in trouble with the Imperator very easily. 

“Youse on ‘trol?”

“Scoutin’” they answered at the same time. 

“Gotta call their scouts back. Buzzers in the area,” the taller of the two stretched and then casually started to walk away, putting a hand up. “Wouldn’t wanna impede on our duties, would ya, Imperator?”

“Hm,” The Imperator glared at them and then nodded. “Be back right quick, now.”

“Yessir,” the shorter one nodded and gave him the sign of V8 before jogging back to the running car with the two impatient Girls in it. He watched them head off, silent and jaw clenched, trying to figure out if this was actually okay or not. But if they had been the ones to have been called upon and another Imperator gave them the okay, then there was no need to worry. He looked around quickly and determined he could probably get a nice nap in before anyone noticed.

“Come on Pooper Scooper Cooper. Ya gained some weight in muscles, shouldn’t be too hard to start this ride!” Harker called down to the two Boys, who were planning on acting as the counterweights. Since Harker was so small and light, there wasn’t a need for two of them, but Torque had made it clear she wanted to be left alone in the cab, not trusting of Peio. To be fair though, he did run up to her, sweeping her off her feet and swung her around like a rag doll above his head, happy to see her. That had earned him a slap to the face, and he put her down. Not his fault he had a fondness for her, but then again they never really interacted with each other much before. And he was tall, and they all knew she hated heights, so that was that then. Cooper and Harker had laughed until they were holding their stomachs, bent over and wheezing. 

The Boys then found out that the twins had changed their names when they joined the War Boy ranks, and were very assertive towards them that they didn’t want to be referred to by their old names. Seemed weird to them, but both Boys agreed and the four of them decided that they better get going. Harker was extremely happy at the idea of being on the top, and there was a brief argument about it, but she won in the end because her voice carried easier over the winds and noise pollution of cars and bikes. And their scouts might listen to her more than they would either of the Boys. 

“That was one time, O-Harker!” Cooper’s face turned red underneath his mask that helped keep sand particles from biting at his sensitive skin. He normally didn’t wear paint, so Peio noticed and winked at him, making the blush spread even further. 

“One time, Coop?”

“Shut up, mate, I was only a Pup. Jus’ move already!” Cooper pushed his side and Peio went with it, pushing back when he needed to. They had just left the premises and Harker had waved at their crew, soaking in the attention she received from them. Their faces said it all: shock and admiration from the Boys, and looks of amazement or being unsurprised from Vic, Caliper, and Savvy. 

Soon as they were far out enough, Harker decided that she should probably try and start locating their Scouts. She was standing as tall as she could when she was able to, on her toes, trying to pinpoint where Viper and Greer were, hoping that at the same time they weren’t too far, and hoping that they were far enough so that she could continue to enjoy this ride, knowing that it would take weeks or months until she could possibly do this again.

“See, knew I should’a been the one to spot,” Cooper shouted over the wind. He wasn’t that much taller than Harker, only by several centimeters or so, but Peio just shook his head. 

“If we were goin’ by height, the obvious pick is me, smeg!”

“No need ta call me names, mate,” Cooper pouted, and it was such a pathetic attempt that Peio threw his head back, howling in amusement. 

“Oi! Ya Boys helpin’ us out or not?” Harker was swinging back and forth, on the verge of being horizontal to the ground. She didn’t seem to mind it and in fact seemed to want to go a little lower to skim the road and sand, but they wouldn’t let her. Supposed to be on a mission, they were. Maybe when they were on their way back they would let her do so. It was just that she would inevitably get sand in her eyes, complain about it and blame them. Not a fun way to go about it, really, even if she was being lighthearted about it.

“Yes mum, right away mum!” Peio saluted and the Boys focused on keeping a steady rhythm. 

It didn’t take long to spot the two motorcyclists. From what Harker could see and interpret, they had managed to drag one of the Buzzards from the wreckage of the single Buzzard car she and Torque had thought gone to rust. The Buzzard was on their knees, head bowed to the ground, mask off and probably weapon less at this point. The sand around him had some red spots scattered about so he was wounded, too. Viper and Greer were talking amongst themselves a couple of meters away. 

“Well, guess it’s a good thing we didn’t take any kills then,” Harker muttered under her breath. She continued to swing, just keeping an eye on them as they neared the range that she would be able to shout in. Looking down and giving the signal to start making their way to the left gradually, Harker’s mind flashed back to when she did her first run with them. 

It had been easier to disguise herself back then, with a flat chest and pants too big. She was swimming in her clothes, so small, and her voice was high, but it didn’t matter because Pups at her age had high voices too. And she had always preferred short hair, so the shaving and hair cuts didn’t matter to her. Because of this, she had been mistaken for a Pup and subsequently found herself being strapped to the top of a pole. It wasn’t a very big one, there of course had to be safety measure in place for Pups just learning, and without much instruction other than to hold on, she was off. At first she let out a scream, terrified of the movement of the car, not trusting of the harness wrapped around her. Fortunately for her, the pole was immovable, so the counterweights below were a safety precaution. 

As the car continued on its route, Harker’s screaming turned into joyful, but still nervous giggles. She felt alive, for the first time. The wind was nipping at her face and some sand bit her exposed skin, but she could suddenly feel the warmth of the sun, different from any other time. It gave her energy and confidence. Slowly but steadily, she let go of the pole and adjusted herself until she was standing straight up, arms out for balance, teetering just a little on the stand from the bumps in the road. The harness was keeping a firm grip on her and she just soaked in the sunshine, the cold wind, and sand particles. Her heart was racing and she let herself feel the fear. Let it consume her, then felt it drain as she faced it, by looking down at the ground below and bent over as far as the harness would let her, going limp from the torso up. 

When they got back from the short run, the counterweights had helped her down. From then on, she used every chance she got to hang around with the Pups, eventually getting to know Cooper and Peio, along with a couple of others. When she graduated to the regular pole, she had been so excited about her first run that she didn’t eat or sleep the day leading up to it. It wasn’t from nervousness, exactly. It was just that she wasn’t sure if she got motion sickness or not. As Torque had pointed out though at that stage in their lives, if she was fine to begin with, then moving from side to side wouldn’t be so different. 

Torque had been right. And wrong. Instead of motion sickness, Harker had just been dizzy from the movements and from not sleeping or eating properly. Ended up coming home for a bit to throw up and lay down for a bit before heading out again. Her mother had scolded her for being so active and away from them all while her father had patted her on the head and didn’t say anything, which for him, actually told her a lot. He was proud of her, despite his disapproval.

The same giddiness from that day appeared out of no where, rushing over her, creating a new sense of awareness about her. As they neared, she whistled a high, shrill note, easily gaining Viper and Greer’s attention. 

At first, they were apprehensive, taking a few steps back to their bikes, but it dawned on them that it was one of their own. Viper punched Greer in the arm, chuckling and making fun of him for being so scared. He clearly didn’t appreciate her transferring her own fear on top of his own, but he was slowly starting to get used to her sense of humor and personality, so he just laughed along with her. 

The four of them stopped a little ways from Viper and Greer. Harker unhooked herself and climbed down when she was able to and joined Torque, telling the Boys to stay where they were until they were informed of what was going on. 

“So, tell us what we got here, Viper.”

“Interested in why he’s still alive.”

“He should have been dead, I thought I hit them pretty good,” Harker scratched the back of her head as she glanced at the man, feeling a little confused. Kind of feeling a little...empathetic to him now instead of wanting to see him bleed. 

The older War Girl smiled and put her hands on her hips, looking back at the Buzzard, still looking quite defeated.

“Greer pulled him out. Come and see for yourselves,” She walked them over to him, humming a bit, a little spring in her step. The twins looked at Greer for any explanation as to why Viper was in such a good mood, but all he could offer was a shrug.

“We’re bringin’ him back to the Citadel. He’s already branded, must’ve been taken in or somethin’. Speaks a little bit of English, so he must’ve been young,” Viper looked down at the man and kicked up the sand, getting some in his face. “We’ll need to see if he makes a good blood bag or not. His partner on the other hand, dead. We’ll have Gas Town bring him back too, for other uses, since this is rather close to them, and I’m sure they would appreciate the kindness.”

“Viper, you do realize he’s still a person, right?” Torque asked, a little wary, wringing her hands together. She knew that Viper had it deeply ingrained in her that people were useful, and whenever she was reminded of it, it made her extremely uncomfortable. It made all of the other War Girls uncomfortable, actually. Harker put her hands in her pockets and rocked back and forth on her feet. 

“That he is, lass. And to earn his rights again, he’ll need to speak with an Imperator or two,” She looked over at the twins, narrowing her eyes. “‘sides, ye should ‘ave been tellin’ yerselves that while ye were out ‘ere before, havin’ all that fun huntin’ ‘em down,” Viper sneered the last bit, looking down at them. 

Torque and Harker cringed and looked away from the man. That was true, they couldn’t debate that one. At the time, it had just been an easy victory, and an addition to their kill count they kept track of on Harker’s arm. As she was reminded, Harker looked down at the slashes down her left arm and hid it behind her back, ashamed somewhat. The thought of humanizing the people inside of the vehicle never went through their minds, but now it did because they could see that one of them men looked genuinely scared of his fate, and of Viper. 

“Load ‘im up, make it fast. Nothin’ else is out ‘ere. We’re goin’ back,” Viper commanded, and the twins quickly went on either side of the Buzzard and picked him up under his armpits. He made it rather difficult since he decided to just be deadweight, so they opted for dragging him to the car they came out in, grunting in effort and silently cursing him out for all the trouble he was putting them through. Peio and Cooper came at the last second to help them out. 

Greer looked a little uncomfortable with the sudden change in Viper, keeping a safe distance from her and looking down in submission whenever she looked his way. Good. It was time that he learned where he stood with her anyways, even if she did like him. Good kid, obedient. 

The problem was that she liked this feeling. Craved it even sometimes. Power was something she missed, so she took every opportunity she had to get a taste of it once again. Vic and Travesty had both mentioned that she should probably work on humbling herself. And she would, eventually. Just not now.

And so what if she was being brutally honest about the Buzzard’s fate? They would treat them the same way if the situation was reversed. Enemies should not be considered or treated as anything other than things to be used. Times have changed. Losers can’t be choosers. Or something like that. She shrugged to herself and mounted her bike, revving it up and waited for Greer to do the same. Once he did, she led the way back, thinking to herself about the way she had handled things. 

Okay, so she might have been a little harsh with the twins, but it was fair to point out the hypocrisy with them. Enemy only human once they were at their most vulnerable? Of course. It made too much sense. Typical. She focused on the road and cleared her head of anything else. It didn’t matter right now. She knew that she would have to answer to Vic, but even if Vic was considered their leader, Viper knew that Vic relied on her opinion on things too, especially when it came to dealing with outside forces. No one else had the information she had and she was going to keep it that way for as long as she could. 

They finally arrived and Viper went over to Vic and informed her of everything that happened, including what they should do with their captive. Vic made a face, but eventually agreed, reminding her that he was to be an unwilling blood donor. Not a blood bag. She would speak with Ace about reminding any War Boys that were due for patrol soon to keep a close eye out for anything strange and to report it immediately once it had been taken care of. 

Torque and Harker said their goodbyes to Cooper and Peio, a little sad to have to leave so soon, but they promised they would try their best to visit again at some point. It went unsaid that it would probably just be Harker, but that had always been the case anyways. They watched as their friends went back inside the town and sighed heavily, a little out of relief and a little out of jealously. It really wasn’t their home anymore now that their mother had pushed them away, but Torque was planning on righting that when she got the courage to come back.

After settling everything with the head of the Gas Town Boys, it was time to leave and head back to the Citadel for the day. They wouldn’t complete the full day of patrol, but with only a couple hours left anyways along with Gas Town going out again to retrieve debris and the other Buzzard for their own uses, Ace was sure to accept them arriving a little early. The unlucky Buzzard rode in the back of Vic’s truck with Caliper guarding him. Harker had been banned from the inside of the car despite Torque wanting her to drive back so that she could get some rest since Harker had gone back to talking to her about Luc. It was just something that she couldn’t tolerate at the moment. There would be plenty of other times Harker would seek her out to babble on and on about whatever it was. Deep down, she was feeling a little worried for Luc. Harker had a hard time slowing things down and Luc seemed like a fairly mellow person. But maybe that would work out in her favor and Harker would get bored of him fast.

Overall it had been a good day, everyone had to agree, save for Vic. Patrol was boring most of the time, so it was nice to have things shaken up a bit, even if they did almost die out there. 

The twins presented the Buzzard to Furiosa and managed to slip to her that Shaw had been a dick to them and had also disrespected her. She said she would take care of him and to report if the troublesome War Boy bothered them again. Soon as she had turned her back, Torque held out her hand and Harker gently slapped it, not wanting to give away that their plan had worked. 

From the shadows, Shelby observed them, doing a quick head count and noted the new scratch on Harker’s face. Mirage would want to see that for sure, now that she was doing much better. She was currently sleeping in their bunk after coming back from wherever it was that she went. The amnesia part had worn off shortly after her getting some food, but she had still been a little out of it, and while it seemed that she was okay now, Shelby was worried about when she would wake up. The reason she had left Mirage was to just clear her head and try to find Travesty and Lexus. The garage was the last place she was going to check, which ended up working in her favor now that the others were back. 

Looking around to check the coast, she made her way over to Savvy.

“Hey, Savvy!” She almost put a hand on her shoulder, but then remembered that Savvy didn’t like to be touched out of nowhere, so she retracted it just before the other War Girl had turned around. 

“Hi, what are you doing here?” Savvy raised an eyebrow. She had been cleaning a small device in her hands with a rag and she immediately covered it up and pocketed it before Shelby could see what it was.

“Looking for Travesty and Lexus. Mirage had another episode, and I didn’t really help stop it. I think I might of made it worse,” she scratched at her arm and looked down at the ground, feeling slightly guilty now that she was telling someone else about what happened. “She’s joined us Green Thumbs and well...we saw the explosions.”

“Oh shit,” Savvy stiffened and her eyes widened. “She okay?”

“I think so, but she wants to see you all. She had seemed fine at first, but I guess my reaction told her that it had been you guys and she freaked out. I thought she had already figured it out, but I was wrong, obviously,”

“Alright, well we were going to go to the room anyways to patch up. Harker got a nice knick on her cheek with a rusty arrow Torque said, so she’s gonna need to be checked out. Meet us there when she wakes up, we’ll probably be there for the rest of the night. Kind of need a drink or two after today.”

“Okay. See you later then,” Shelby gave a small wave and headed back.

Once Vic was done talking with Ace, Savvy ran to her side and let her know that Shelby and Mirage were going to join them later on. They were going to tell Viper to come with them as well, but she had already slipped off, leaving Vic feeling a little anxious and exasperated about that, but what could she do? Nothing really. So they gathered the twins and started the way down the tunnels to their meeting room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm super busy because this upcoming week is finals week and I'm coming to terms with realizing how much I screwed myself over this quarter, but it's okay! This is my chance to tell people to not fucking take 17 units with each class requiring a lot of reading and writing. You won't get everything done, it'll be a mess and if you're like me, you'll just end up not doing much during the last two weeks before finals. Or maybe you can, idk. I did this cos I took 18 units earlier this year and did fine, but I didn't have to do as much reading and writing as I had to this quarter.  
> ANYWAYS. ENOUGH RAMBLING. I don't know if I'll update next week, but we'll see. Also, I got a blog on tumblr for my War Girls, url is thechromealliance, kind of still getting things started but there's a lot of info there that I haven't touched upon yet so. yeha. thanks for reading, as always!


	17. Love Drunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vic and Travesty have a talk that doesn't end up going all that great, Harker fights disinfectant, and Mirage is back to her old self again after Shelby brings her down to the room to see everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nsfw-ish at the beginning?? This is the only warning, i'm sorRY

“Fuck...Fuck, Lexus, can ya keep doing that? Yeah, like that,” Travesty had one arm covering her eyes which were squeezed shut and one hand on top of Lexus’s head, thumb rubbing circles in an encouraging manner. Her entire body was trembling, and she could feel herself getting closer and closer to the edge, back arching up slightly every so often in anticipation. Long as Lexus kept up with what she was doing…

It didn’t take much after that. Lexus had listened to her, speeding up just a bit with her tongue and smiled when she felt Travesty’s thighs tighten around her head, muffling the sounds the other War Girl made whenever she came. She didn’t let up until she felt the soft taps letting her know that she had had enough. Lexus eagerly moved up and tenderly kissed her lover, licking a little at her lips so that she could part them and taste herself. 

They were in one of the many rooms within their room, hidden in case anyone walked in on them. Lexus’s throat had bite marks all over it and bruising in various places where Travesty had sucked on the skin and Travesty herself had scratches running down her back from when she had worked Lexus up to her own climax. As Travesty relaxed and regained her energy, Lexus curled up next to her, entangling their limbs together. They laid there in silence, Lexus listening to Travesty’s heart beat slow and breathing even out. 

“Much as I don’t want to, we should probably put our pants on and such. Maybe get some water to take the taste of dust out of our mouths, too.”

Lexus nodded reluctantly, but didn’t make any efforts to get up. Neither did Travesty. By the time they finally did get up and redressed, they could hear approaching footsteps and low voices, prompting them to hurry up. Travesty was just putting on her belt when they heard their friends enter the main room. 

“Does it really have to be tomorrow? Can’t we do it the day after?” Harker seemed to be whining about something as usual and Travesty couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Lexus snickered and headed out, surprising the others that were coming in. 

“Woah, okay, well we know what you two have been up to, no wonder Shelby couldn’t find Travesty.”

“Yup, turns out our day was more fun than yers was, I bet-” Travesty had been adjusting her belt as she joined them, lazily taking her time when she looked up and saw the fresh wound on Harker and how shaken Vic seemed to be. “What the-?”

“Long day, ran into some Buzzards in a place where they shouldn’t have been,” Vic shuddered and she seemed ready to have a nice long cry. Travesty went over and examined Harker’s face first, grabbing her slightly rougher than she needed to, moving it from side to side to view it from all angles. After shrugging it off and releasing Harker, she went straight to Vic and the others knew that they were going to be asked to give them a minute. Savvy went to get the first aid kit with Caliper and Lexus found a spot to lay down in, stretching a bit before doing so. The twins stayed back a little bit and kept to themselves. 

“Geez, you would think Travesty actually cared about my little cut,” Harker whispered as she rubbed her chin, making a face at Torque. 

“Yeh, if it weren’t for the fact that she’s tryin’ to minimize her worry for Vic,” her sister whispered back. 

“Why don’t they just get back together, get Lexus in with Savvy and Caliper?”

“Ya know why, Harker.”

“I know, but still. Might make things less awkward when-Hey! Good timing, this is starting to leak a little.”

“Disinfectant and some fresh linens for that cute face of yours,” Caliper said, smiling. Savvy was smiling too, but more in a sadistic manner, looking forward to the small form of torture that was about to occur. Harker never seemed to handle the sting from the disinfectant well, but it was necessary to get all the dirt and grime out of the cut before it started healing, opening up a window for a nasty infection. 

“Savvy come on, show some mercy for once,” Harker pled, half serious.

“I’m showing plenty by not putting it to yer cut.”

“I guess so,” Harker scrunched up her face in anticipation, but Caliper dragged it out for as long as she could, making Harker open up her eyes again just as she applied it.

“Ah, fuck!” Harker hissed, pushing Caliper away.

“Honestly, you would think that she would try her best not to get hurt to avoid this,” Caliper chuckled and handed Torque the linens, knowing that Harker would probably not let her get close to her again for a few minutes, wary of another round of cleansing. 

While Harker went on and on, defending her lifestyle with Torque trying desperately to mash the linen onto her cut before the disinfectant dried out, Travesty led Vic somewhere private so that they could talk without being distracted. This didn’t happen that often, only when Vic seemed to be in distress, and boy, was she not doing too good right now. Travesty tried to keep her heart rate down as it was fluttering out of nervousness and worry. Once they were satisfied with their location, Travesty gripped Vic’s shoulders and made her look her in the eyes before saying anything.

“So what ‘appened out there, Vicky, you’re not hurt either, are ya?”

“It was a bumpy ride, but it seems like the Buzzards are getting desperate for supplies. Or at least that’s what Viper and a few of the Gastown Boys thought,” Vic easily wormed her way out of Travesty’s hold and slid down the rocky wall, slumping at the bottom and gathering her knees to her chest. Travesty was slower to join her, making sure her bum knee was straight out before using the wall to guide herself down. Vic leaned over and put her head on top of hers. 

“Did they say why?”

“No, didn’t really elaborate more than that, but if they’re desperate for supplies then of course they’re going to go outside of their territory to get some.”

“Makes sense,” Travesty looked up at her, eyeing Vic suspiciously. “Sure you’re not hurt?”

“No, just...rattled, I guess. We had three new boys, triplets, if you can believe it.”

Travesty snorted. “I’ll believe anythin’ at this point.”

“The twins took to them well, although Harker seems to really like this one War Boy, Luc. It was their first time working with Luc and Shaw and Shaw didn’t hold back on his horribleness.”

“No, why would he? Ya really need to think about talkin’ to Ace about getting rid of ‘im.”   
“Don’t think Harker would like that idea, it would mean Luc would have to go with him.”

“She’ll get over it. Boys don’t mean much to her anyways. Smart girl.”

Vic coughed. “Right, well, we came across this single Buzzard car, just waiting there. I was really skeptical that it was the only one so I had us all stick around it. The triplets are new and young. This was their first run, so they got bored easily and took off. I let them.”

Shocked, the lanky War Girl sat up straight and Vic tumbled a little at the sudden loss of support. “When I said I would believe anythin’ at this point, I think I meant believing anythin’ that didn’t involve ya not running after people to keep an eye on ‘em.”

Vic pulled herself back up and rubbed her shoulder, not looking the other in the eye. “They needed to relieve themselves, I felt weird asking someone to go with them, and I kept track of how long they were gone. They went further down the road and after a few minutes they managed to trigger the rest of the Buzzard gang.”

“Hm,” Travesty resettled against the wall, bringing her good knee up and wrapping her arms around it, almost mimicking Vic. “Ambush. And then what ‘appened?”

“I sent the twins to go after the lone car, then the rest of us went to get the triplets. It was really scary, I don’t think...I mean, I’ve been in fights before, but this one, it was different, not everyone was as experienced and the triplets...then I had Greer go back to Torque and Harker to have them cover us while we made our escape but something went wrong and they ended up in the middle of everything and I couldn’t see anything because of all the dust and I thought-” Vic had to stop so that she could compose herself before she started panicking. 

“Just breathe, love, just breathe. It’s okay, they’re safe. The twins are fine and you got everyone out alive,” Travesty scooted as close so she could to rub Vic’s back, keeping her voice low and soothing. “Everyone’s safe, Victoria.”

“Don’t call me that,” Vic said weakly, but she didn’t mean it. Travesty nodded anyways. “I hate when you call me that.”

“”cause you think I’m patronizing you, I know.” 

Eventually, Vic pulled herself together and managed to keep the crying to a minimum. She would probably have to go and reapply some of the black pigment around her eyes, but that was okay with her. She felt arms around her and she let Travesty guide her into her lap, finding it nice to lay against her for warmth and comfort. Kind of like how things used to be. Flashbacks and memories went through her mind and she found herself clutching Travesty's shirt tighter than she needed to.

“You doin’ all right there?”

“Yeah...It's just that I miss you.”

“I know.”

“Everything seems...off.”

“How so?”

Vic could hear the careful and almost defensive tone Travesty took on. It made her rethink what she was about to say, just a tiny bit. “You just seem different. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s like...you’ve become more distant. And it really hurt finding out that you wanted to leave us.”

“We’re not exactly leaving, Vicky. We’re movin’ up. No offense to you and the others but we’re fed up with just layin’ low. If ya really want to know the truth, Viper mentioned it first and we got to talking. She was just hesitant to bring it up with you, is all. Everyone is welcome to join, but I know the twins, Savvy, and Caliper hate me, so there’s that li’l tidbit.”

“They don’t hate you, you just piss them off easily and you push them away. I can understand why you do so with the twins, but Savvy and Caliper?”

Travesty shrugged. “Caliper made it very clear that she didn’t like me from the beginning and Savvy hates me because I’m right most of the time.”

“It’s not an excuse. We need to stick together, have some sort of unity.”

“Okay, here’s the thing Vicky,” Travesty adjusted herself so that she was more comfortable, sticking her bad leg out before it stiffened. “We’re always gonna be together. We’re just gonna be apart. I know that doesn’t make sense, but the goal in the end is to get out of this shithole and to go home to the Green Place. It’s real, I know it is, and I know that Furiosa knows it. Isn’t that what you want, too?”

Frowning, Vic furrowed her brow and looked up at Travesty, skeptical. “How do you know it’s really still there?”

“...I don’t.”

“Exactly.”

“Now we’re back to this again,” Travesty huffed, bringing a hand up to hold her head up. “Ya don’t believe me. You don’t know the variables, so you dismiss it. ’s not good enough for ya that Furiosa, someone you trust mind you, knows of it too and it'll probably never be enough at this point. She’s talked about it, you know that and it irritates the fuck out of me, because-”

“It sounds too good to be true,” Vic cut her off, getting up abruptly and accidentally causing Travesty to grunt in pain while doing so. Vic decided that she had had enough. “A place with abundant greenery and other food in a time when the greens that we have just barely feed us and the other two allies the Citadel has? A place of the Many Mothers, women in charge instead of men, and a steady supply of unrestricted clean water to top it all off? Can you really blame me?”

She didn’t get a response and she wasn’t sure if she actually was expecting one.

“I’m sorry, Trav.”

“Not as sorry as I am,” Travesty struggled to get up somewhat, and out of instinct Vic went to help her out, but was rejected. She caught a glimpse of Travesty’s face and she immediately regretted saying what she had said, completely forgetting that she wasn’t the only one who doubted the existence of the Green Place. For all Travesty knew, she could have been making it up, a kind of fantasy place to get away from reality as she was too young to remember a lot of details. And yet after all these years she still hung onto it, desperate for it to be true, to be validated, and Vic kept cutting her down again and again. No wonder she wanted to get away from her. 

“I’m gonna go get Lexus and head out. Nice talk with ya, Vic. Be seein’ ya around.” 

Vic watched Travesty limp off, her head low and hands in her pockets. Even though she wanted to say something more, she knew it wouldn’t make a difference. Not right now. She would have to apologize later and remember to keep her mouth shut about her thoughts on the Green Place. 

After some time of just staring into space long after Travesty was out of her line of sight, she felt eyes on her and she whipped around, startled.

“Oh! It’s you two. Sorry, I’m not feeling good right now, go on ahead. I need some fresh air.”

“Want me to send Savvy and Caliper with you?” Shelby asked, concerned and stepping forward just a bit. 

“No, it’ll be okay. I have to look for Viper anyways, I need to speak to her about...something,” Vic finished lamely. She would think of something to talk to Viper about of course, but she just couldn’t think of what. Maybe confront her about the plans of moving up ranks and why now. That seemed like a good idea. She smiled at Mirage and Shelby and then moved past them, feeling a little more confident. 

“You sure that’s Vic?” Mirage asked, squinting as if trying to get a better look at the retreating figure. To her, that person had acted a little funny, very Un-Vic like. 

“I’m sure it was, M. Come on, I saw the others with my own eyes and spoke with Savvy before I came and woke you up, trust me, okay?”

Mirage eyed her suspiciously but nodded. She wasn’t all the way back yet, but Shelby had some hope. Long as she got a good look at the others and touched them, it would solidify reality for her, grounding her better. At least that was the plan for right now.

They entered and everyone looked up from what they were doing and just kind of waited while Mirage gathered her bearings. She looked at all of them carefully, taking in any changes, her mind trying to make sense of it all. She had seen the explosions but they had all survived and were still here, which was a relief, but a sharp pang of jealousy went through her chest, too fast for her to really catch it. Harker noticed the trouble that Mirage was going through and silently made her way in front of her, gently taking her hand and bringing it to her face, letting Mirage touch the wound. Of course this would mean more disinfectant after, but if it helped the other War Girl, then she would just have to put up with it. 

“See? Solid. Just a cut, I’ll live. Buzzards tried to get the better of us, but I mean, come on Mira, ya really think we would go down that easily? Wait, don’t answer that, because you already know that we’re basically immortal out there, mate. Buzzards ain’t got nothing on our team!” She tried to keep the atmosphere light and cheery. Mirage seemed to take to it, giving her a half smile and looking grateful that Harker let her touch her, so she continued. “The rest of them are a little battered and bruised, but they’ll get over it, swears it.”

Mirage’s face fell and she lowered her hand. “I should have been there though.”

“You needed a break, no worries. Everyone there was more than capable of handling the situation. Except have you ever worked with Shaw?”

The expression that Mirage made when she mentioned the War Boy’s name made everyone burst out laughing, easing the tension and Shelby could tell that Mirage was finally recovering all the way from the episode. She beamed at Harker, who winked back at her, understanding how she felt about feeling helpless in a situation. Harker then threw an arm around Mirage, pulling her close to reassure her. 

“See? You didn’t miss out on anything. ‘sides, you got to spend time with Shelby here, and we all know that you two just can’t get enough of each other as it is.”

Harker just barely dodged Mirage’s fist, and she dashed over back to Torque’s side, hiding behind her slightly. “I can’t help it!”

“Shut up about it already!” Mirage warned, narrowing her eyes and putting her hands on her hips, but there was a faint hint of a grin, which Harker returned. 

“I’ll take my chances, Mira, you know me.”

“Unfortunately,” Mirage rolled her eyes and then turned to Shelby, motioning her over. “I heard there was gonna be a few drinks going around and I could really use one. Where’s the rotgut?”

“The sun’s not even down all the way yet, but I’m not gonna complain about that,” Caliper went to close off the entrance while the others grabbed a few bottles from their storage area, excited and thankful to have lived another day. Mirage was more like herself than before and even though she had wanted to sneak away with Shelby, Shelby thought it would be best if she stuck around, just to make sure that she didn’t drift away again. All six War Girls drank until they could barely stand up, exchanging stories and enjoying everyone’s company. Finally, the bottles stopped being emptied and the sound of rambunctious laughter and loud talking died down as one by one they fell asleep, curled up in a big pile until Viper finally showed up and had them all go to the bunks, helping those that really couldn’t walk get back safely. It had been a good day despite the difficulties and close calls, they all had to admit. A good day for living, a good day for being grateful, and a good day for appreciating one another as they fought to survive in the Citadel. 

If only Vic and Travesty had felt the same way, it might have been the perfect day for them all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is Love Drunk by Boys Like Girls and idk I have an attachment to this song, and I kind of think it fits Vic and Travesty's relationship and where it currently stands. I mean, there's more to it than just Vic doubting Travesty, but that'll come out later.  
> Uh, I also don't do smut, so this is probably the most you're getting out of me ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
> I hope to update a bit more, I feel like I'm v behind and even though I'm on vacation now I somehow feel busier? Damn  
> Thank you for reading as always!


	18. Long Forgotten Sons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viper and Mirage have a small talk and it takes the wrong turn for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title again by Rise Against. It's a short update, sorry about that omg. but!!! another is coming shortly, longer than this one for sure. just need to finish it up and then edit the best i can. I might post it after coming back home for the day, but it's definitely coming soon. the next one might not come until the new year, but uh, that's in like two days anways so

Travesty was considered sneaky but it was really Viper who should be considered a professional. She had crept down to their room with the intent to have some actual alone time to compose herself and go over her thoughts and the day’s events, but heard that she should probably give the two War Girls inside their privacy. However, if she couldn’t have the alone time that she had wanted, then she was going to retrieve some pieces of paper and the pen. There was an opportunity to see Duncan tonight for a couple of hours or so and she was going to take it and have him start learning the alphabet and begin the process of writing simple sentences. While he did that with charcoal, she would piece together some old folk tales her clan had carried down from generation to generation by mouth. Most of them were old Scottish stories and she was anxious to get them written down in case anything happened to her. If she went, the stories would go with her, save for the ones Duncan knew by heart. 

She took off her boots, keeping her socks on. She had had this pair for as long as she could remember and they were covered in holes that had been sewn multiple times. Viper could probably steal another pair from other people, but these had sentimental value to them, so she wasn’t going to give them up that easily. They were still thick enough to keep the chafing from her boots to a minimum. 

Peeking in a little from the boulder to check if the coast was clear, Viper slipped inside the room and quietly made her way over to the book room, happy to find it free of anyone else. As quickly as she could, she looked for where she had last hid the paper but found that some of the books had been moved around. Panicking wasn’t exactly an option at the moment. There were two other people near her and while they might be occupied, they definitely wouldn’t appreciate her lurking around for very long if she gave herself away. She narrowed her eyes at a stack of books as if trying to see through it or willing it to make it tell her where the paper and pen went. 

Things seemed to be heating up rather quickly in the other room to the point that it was beginning to make her feel like she was violating them even more now that it would take her longer to get what she needed. So with a small and almost breathless sigh, she crept out again and grabbed her shoes, making her way up to the bunks to wait for the others. Once she had climbed up and was situated, her eyes felt heavier than they had been just a short while ago. It might be good to rest her eyes...it had been a long day after all. 

When she woke up, groggy and light headed from not eating in awhile, Viper could tell that she had been sleeping for hours as War Boys were beginning to return to the chambers, some already snoring away. Perfect. She had wasted valuable time and to top it all off, the injuries she sustained while out earlier (just a few small cuts and bruises, nothing she couldn’t handle) were making themselves known too. Thinking her options through, the chance to spend time and teach Duncan some basics were more important to her. She got out of the bunk and jogged down to the room again, just barely aware of her surroundings. Might be good to sleep in the next day. 

Upon entering, she saw six War Girls all piled on top of each other, snoring, drooling, mumbling in their sleep, or all three. So that’s where everyone had gone. Well, mostly everyone. Lexus, Travesty, and Vic seemed to be missing from this pile. She didn’t want to think too much about it, so she just made her way over to the twins and woke them up first. 

“Oi, wassa matta wi’ ya? ‘m tryna sleep,” Harker slurred, still drunk and tried to push away the right Viper with very little success. Viper ignored her and went to check on her sister. Torque didn’t really budge when she kicked at her shoulder, but when Viper leaned in closer, she could tell that the sick twin was also having some trouble breathing again. Now it was a bit more serious and she tugged harder at Harker’s arm, annoyed with how limp she was acting in defiance to moving. 

“Harker, ye need to get up. Now. Torque needs air.”

That seemed to sober her up just a little bit and Harker basically jumped up from her position, a little wobbly. Viper took hold of Torque underneath her armpits and pulled as gently as she could to get her from underneath the other sleeping bodies. She hadn’t held Toque in awhile either but she seemed a bit bonier than usual. A thought raced through her mind but she ignored it and had Harker sling one of Torque’s arms over her shoulder to help carry her to the bunks. 

Once the twins had been situated with Harker rubbing her eyes furiously and Viper giving her her ration of water to drink, Viper went back. The lack of two warm bodies had stirred the others. Caliper wasn’t very drunk since it took more to get her there due to her size, so Viper employed her to help carry and support Savvy and Shelby while she checked on Mirage. She had overheard Shelby talking about Mirage going through another episode so she was very cautious when waking her. 

“Hm?” Mirage looked dazed and not all there, but the haze cleared up after a minute or so and she smiled up at Viper lazily, eyes fighting to focus in on her. “Hi.”

“‘lo. Still here in one piece, lass. The others made it back too as ye know. Sorry, had some business to take care of ‘fore I could see you.”

“‘s okay,” Mirage closed her eyes again. She opened them up again in panic and sat up, looking around the now empty room frantically. “Where’s Shelby?”

“I had Caliper take her back to the bunks. ‘s night an’ time for bed and you’re both drunk as skunks. Can’t hold yer alcohol very well, can ye?” Viper placed a hand gently on Mirage’s shoulder to help calm her. It seemed to do the trick as she leaned in to it and Viper took that as an opportunity to encourage her to get up. “Come on, lass, she’s waitin’ for ye.”

“Okay.”

Mirage took her hand and was kind of dragged into standing up. She didn’t really want to get up which is why it was difficult not to just lay back down, but the need to see Shelby helped rationalize that in order to see her, she would need to move. She closed her eyes and shook her head, clearing out any bad thoughts that were lingering, just waiting to jump out and take her by surprise. She looked up at Viper and then hugged her, almost knocking the other War Girl over. 

“Give me a sec, I don’t feel so good. Memories. And feeling sick.”

Viper laughed to lighten the mood and returned the hug. “Jus’ don’t throw up on me, Mirage, I gotta visit Duncan-”

“Duncan? That’s right, you have a son,” Mirage took a step back, still holding onto Viper, but pulled away so that she could get a good look at her, furrowing her eyebrows. She didn’t appear as drunk as she did a few seconds ago. “I had children too.”

Viper rested a hand on one of Mirage’s that were on her shoulders and smiled sadly. Mentioning her son right now might not have been the best idea that she had thought up but it was too late to take it back now. “I know.”

“He’s doing okay?”

“Aye. Growin’ fast. Too fast.”

“They do that don’t they? But I wouldn’t know for sure, mine all…” Mirage blinked and then shook her head again. “Just take me to Shelby, I need to see her.” 

Viper obliged, not wanting to further discuss their children. Sometimes it made her feel guilty knowing that out of all of them that had kids, she was the only one that got to see hers at all, even if it was just for a few hours every other day or week. And she knew for sure that hers was alive to top it all off. But at the same time, there might come the time where Duncan went out and never came back, forgotten in the wasteland, and she wasn’t sure what was worse: Not knowing where your kids were or knowing that one day they would die before you.

Just as they were reaching the bunks, they ran into Travesty and Lexus, who were retiring for the night as well. Travesty offered to take Mirage off of Viper’s hands, then asked if she had seen Vic anywhere. Viper shrugged.

“Haven’t seen her. Is there a problem?”

“Never you mind, maw. You on yer way to see the li’l laddie?”

Viper shifted so that her weight was on one hip, her arms crossing over her chest. “Aye.”

“Good luck. E’s curious about how Lexus talks now a days. Said you would teach ‘im sometime with the book.”

“Ah, that would be a good skill to have. See you in the morn,” Viper waved and the others waved goodnight back. For some reason, Lexus kept looking back at her and then at Travesty who said something under her breath and Lexus went on ahead into the bunks. It didn’t worry Viper, but it did make her wonder what else Travesty had to say to her.

The visit with Duncan had to be cut short. He was incredibly tired and Niles was insistent that the next day would work out best. She reluctantly agreed after a half hour of bonding time to bring him back to the War Pup’s bunks and then finally went off to settle down in her own for the night, taking one last look at the young boy trying his best to keep his eyes open so that he could wave goodnight to his mother as he was carried off by Niles to his designated sleeping pile. Tomorrow would come eventually, it always did.

When she got back, she could see everyone sleeping peacefully. Vic had returned and was in the middle of Savvy and Caliper, an arm around each of them with blankets sloppily covering them up. The twins were snuggled up in their blankets with Harker protecting Torque from the elements as it did tend to get colder as the season drew closer to winter and the cold only seemed to irritate the bumps even more. Mirage and Shelby were tangled up together and from what she could see of Travesty and Lexus, Travesty had an arm over Lexus’s waist, the rest of their bodies covered up with blankets. Travesty appeared to still be awake, but she was too deep in thought to acknowledge her, eyes focused on the ceiling of the bunk, her breath slow and but not quite even.

Viper sighed and climbed up into her bunk, keeping as quiet as she could. It would never truly be quiet in the War Boy’s bunks, and she wasn’t sure how quiet it was in the Imperator’s quarters either. Soon enough she would find out though, if everything worked out in the end. After taking off her shoes and placing them at the end of her sleeping area, she grabbed her own blankets and pulled them up over her head to hide the fact that she needed to weep, keeping the blankets close to her mouth to help muffle any noises. For Duncan who might not live a full life and for their other children that probably didn’t make it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should sleeppppp. In the meantime, I've just been coming up with songs for each war girl. So far I've got the Godfather theme for Travesty, All Men Are Pigs for Savvy, and Take on Me for Harker. Oh, and Cry Me A River for Lexus, but that's more of a joke for me. Suggestions or


	19. And She Never Forgave, and She Never Forgot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What started as a chance of independence for a short while turns into a not okay situation and Travesty of course, takes advantage of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, this is kind of a sensitive chapter in terms of abuse implications and statements. Just wanna put that out there in case that's a trigger for anyone before you get any further.

On a spur of the moment decision, and to get the war paint off of her face for a short period of time so that the others could track her wound better, Harker had headed off for a bath without anyone else. She had only mentioned it to Torque quickly, but never actually said if she was going with someone. It was kind of exciting for her, kind of nerve racking. An adventure of sorts. The closer she got there, the more her heart started to race. She felt the need to hold onto Torque’s hand, but she wasn’t there by her side as usual and it was killing her. In preparation for the next bet then, she said to herself, taking a deep breath. Through a lot of sweet talking to Vic and Travesty, she had them move it to tomorrow. A whole day without Torque. Simple, long as nothing came up. If they accidentally bumped into each other, and maybe make that a couple of times throughout the day, then that should be okay, just sweep that aside like it never happened. The Citadel was big but not big enough to not see the same person twice in a day. That sounded about right. No biggie.

She was getting to the bath house a tad later than when they normally would, as a group that is, so the amount of War Boys around had increased tenfold. Just as the thought of backing out entered her mind, she pushed forward, determined to not let that stop her. So what, she didn’t have the protection of the other War Girls, big whoop. Any bugger that tried to get near her would get a beating, that was for sure. Unless he was cute. Harker felt the sense of Torque jabbing her in the ribs just for thinking of that and it was probably deserved. She rubbed the spot in her ribs absentmindedly as she entered the pool area.

The water was a little murky and gray from the white clay, general dirt, sand, and...motor oil. Harker squinted at the motor oil just sitting there on the surface of the water. It was just another reminder as to why they tended to come earlier in the day. No one liked the taste of motor oil in their mouth and she loved being under the water as it gave her a sense of peace and quiet. Aside from the splashing that is. Still, being underwater was almost as fun as being on the poles where she imaged that she could touch the sky. Being underwater brought back memories of some of the books she had read as a Wife. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea had stuck with her for some time now and she liked to close her eyes sometimes and pretend that she was in one of the many oceans of the old world, exploring the depths. Now there was mostly just bone graveyards and old abandoned and rotting cargo ships to remind them all of what used to be.

Harker found a spot that suited her. Not that many War Boys around and not a whole lot of motor oil lingering. The few War Boys in the area looked up and nodded their greetings at her and she nodded back, feeling more at ease with their acknowledgement of her. She wasn’t sure what was the better of the two: to be noticed and given unwanted attention, or to go unnoticed and feeling isolated. Granted, she loved attention from War Boys, and positive encounters were always welcome. Savvy hadn’t exaggerated, some of the Boys held some weird beliefs about them and their failure to make their god happy. If they only knew what that meant, they might back off more with their comments, snide remarks, and obscene actions. At least, that was her thought process. The others never really thought much of it, including Torque. 

She stripped herself of her clothing and slid into the pool, not bothering to test it. She had thought that it might be warm due to all the bodies in it, but apparently not. She shivered and immediately regretted her decision to be slow about this. Goosebumps covered her entire body in no time and she rushed to get one of her many rags she had brought with her to start cleaning up. The sooner she was done with this, the faster she could get out, dry herself off in the sun, and be reunited with her sister. An angry sister once she found out that she had gone alone, but hopefully a not so angry sister for long? She wanted to spend some extra time with her today before the next to go over what Torque would do if anything happened, like if she suddenly stopped breathing and hurt herself if she passed out. 

Harker managed to always think of the worse and while it annoyed and frightened Torque, it was a reality check for both of them, and to the rest of their friends. Torque would need to be in constant watch. Not like last time where she had been working in her little workspace alone for an extended period of time. The more she thought back to that day, the more she realized that maybe Torque hadn’t been alone. Travesty was the one to interrupt them, and it wasn’t long after Harker had revealed herself to Torque from the rafters. She shrugged it off, deciding that Travesty was just being a creep as usual. It just made more sense than the alternative.

“Fancy seein’ you here,” a voice came up behind her and she jumped a little bit, her hands making fists and she turned, about to snarl in this jerk’s face, but she stopped herself, a tiny gasp escaping her lips. Travesty was right, she really did need to check her blindspots more often. 

“Oi, sorry to scare ya there, mate. Sorry ‘bout that,” Luc held his hands up and backed up a bit from her. He still had some paint on his skin, but it was blotchy and he still needed to scrub himself off more. She looked around for Shaw, suspicious about him lurking close by, but didn’t immediately see him. Relieved, she looked up at him, smiling, but it wasn’t genuine. Usually she was the one going up to other people. If it was the other way around, it usually meant that she was in trouble. 

“‘s alright, what are you doing here, Lucky Luke?” Strike one. He was here to clean himself up of course. Obviously. 

“Not doin’ much other than washing up. Shaw left early, couple of his mates came and he left with them. Kind of normal for him to do now…” He reached up and scratched the back of his neck, looking down at the water, frowning. “But Magnus should be here soon, maybe.”

Harker cocked her head to the side, curious. “Who’s Magnus?”

“Me closest mate, if we’re being honest here,” Luc grinned, his confidence coming back. “Do you like jokes? Puns to be exact?”

“I’m a punny kind of girl, yeh.”

That got Luc to roll his eyes in a friendly manner. Strike two maybe? “Then you two would get along great, I reckon.”

“Depends on the kind of puns. Hey, look, since both of our partners are gone, do ya mind gettin’ my back for me, Lucky Luke? Can’t quite reach, I’m not flexible enough,” Harker said casually, hoping he would said yes. It was a white lie as she was flexible enough to reach her back, but if she wanted to be sure of getting every spot, then it was nice to have someone else make sure. The War Boy raised an eyebrow and a corner of his mouth lifted just a little, revealing a hint of teeth. Half-smiles had always been her favorite, especially when executed like that. She smiled back, this time more authentic than before. 

“I don’t see why not. Here, turn around then,” Luc twirled a finger at her and she complied, delighted of this chance to get to know Luc better, handing him the rag she had been using in an afterthought. They chatted a little while he scrubbed away at the paint and dust. Not exactly small talk, and not exactly flirting. It was comfortable for both of them it seemed, and Harker was surprised about how careful he was not to scrub too hard and the fact that he bothered to ask if she was doing okay every now and then. It was nice for a change and when it was over, she could feel disappointment creep up on her, but it didn’t last long as he asked her if she could do his. She might have nodded just a little too vigorously, but he laughed and turned around for her. She noticed up close that he had six small tumors running up and down his spine. Before she could stop herself, she touched one of them lightly and he inched away, turning his head to look down at her. The height difference was a little annoying now.

“Feels funny when they’re touched. I’ve had them for awhile. They don’t do much other than press onto my spine every now and again. Give me nasty headaches to deal with,” Luc explained. 

“Oh.”

“It’s fine to go over ‘em, just don’t, you know, brush over ‘em lightly.”

“That’s okay?” 

“Yeh, no worries, mate, ‘s fine.” 

“I’ve never seen tumors on the back like this,” Harker remarked, getting down to business with the rag he had provided. His skin was warm to the touch despite how cold the water was. It made her move a little closer to him.

“I know I’m not the only one, but yeh, I get what you mean. Not too common. Mine appear to have stopped growin’. Been about...a thousand or so days since the last one came up? And under 500 since that one just stopped.”

“Just curious, but have you seen other tumors elsewhere stop growing? Say, for instance, the neck area?” Harker asked, hopeful. 

“Hm...Never really heard of that happenin’ mate, but it could be possible. Ya talking about the lymphoma cancer?”

“You know the name of it?” Harker was shocked and Luc faced her again, a little confused at the response he got at that. 

“Erm, yeh? Lots of us do. Lots of us have it, Organic doesn’t seemed too bothered to tell us, but it’s easier to just call ‘em lumps or bumps. You askin’ for yer driver?”

“Yeh, my sister has it. Her breathing gets real bad at night sometimes. Chews at her windpipe and ‘s getting more aggressive.”

“Sorry to hear ‘bout that. I have heard stories of it receding though, might wanna look into that with Organic. Would go with ya but...not my favorite person to be around for long.”

“Not mine either, but thanks for tellin’ me. I’ll think about it. We kind of avoid the OM as often as we can since...anyways, turn around, I didn’t finish yet.” 

Luc shrugged and did just that. The next time one of them opened their mouths, it was Luc who hissed in pain over a spot Harker went over. 

“Holy V8, did you get in a fight?” She was alarmed to say the least, the bruise she uncovered on his shoulder blade was massive, covering almost the entire size of it. Her jaw was hanging open, words failing to form other than what she had just said.

“Kinda?”

“It must’a been somethin’ Luc. Down in the pits?”

“Nah, with my lancer. ‘s nothin’ really.”

“Did-did he throw you against the wall? Against a car? Oh my...Luc…” She started paying attention to other areas of his body that she had scrubbed clean. Before she had been too busy talking to him, and his skin color was just tan enough for some of them to not be as noticeable, plus the lighting was awful in this area of the pools. Now that she was more concentrated on finishing up his back, she discovered small to large bruises and old scars littering his back. The scars weren’t so abnormal, however there were a lot that indicated that he had been thrown down a lot. She ran her hands over them, trying not to cry over the thought of implied abuse. The further she went down, the more recent the bruises became. One of them looked oddly like a handprint and she couldn’t hold back the horrified noise that she made when she realized this. 

“How long has he been hurting you, Luc?” 

He went really quiet and then moved away from her, head down just slightly. “‘s nothing, really. I can handle it.”

“This isn’t nothing, Luc!” Harker reached out to him, but he shook her off, glaring back at her. “This is serious, this is-”

“Oi, not you too. Look, he’s got some issues, always has, ‘s just how he is!” Luc spat and became really defensive, causing Harker to shrink back at the tone of his voice and the volume it took on, raising her arms up in case he came any closer. “You wouldn’t know ‘cause ya don’t know him. ‘s normal for him, he’s always been this way!”

“I do know about men like him, Luc. That’s why I’m worried,” Harker’s own voice was trembling and she flinched when he took a step forward. Just as he was about to say something more, probably an apology from the look on his face, another voice rang out, calling to him. Harker took this opportunity to get out as fast as she could, grabbing her clothes and hurrying to dry herself off with a clean rag before dressing herself again. She would apply her paint later, but right now she didn’t feel anywhere near safe, and as much as she felt empathy the poor War Boy, she just couldn’t stick around anymore. Not after being reminded in such a manner.

“Wait, where are you going?” Luc seemed hurt at her sudden absence next to him, and he ignored the War Boy calling to him in hopes that she would change her mind. 

“I gotta go, ‘m late for somethin’” She hastily replied, zipping up her pants and not bothering to buckle up the belts. She just needed to leave, right now. “See ya around, Luc, bye!”

It was too slippery to run, but dry enough to walk briskly past more War Boys that were arriving for their turn to wash themselves off. A few looked at her quizzically since she wasn’t on her way to be painted, but right now that was the last thing on her mind. She needed to see Torque or maybe even Vic or Savvy or Caliper...someone. Her heart was racing, sweat dripping down her temples. Her breathing was becoming way too fast. If she wasn’t careful, she would be hyperventilating in no time. Flashbacks were on the edge of her mind and she really could do without them right now, they weren’t helping. 

Back in the bunks she finished buckling up her belts and donned her shoes as it was much easier to walk about in the combat boots than going barefoot. After looking for some time, she couldn’t find anyone anywhere, inside at least. Some might be on the roof or out and about. The more she was without someone, the more she began to panic and the more her breathing started to turn more erratic. It was only when she felt lightheaded and dizzy that she stopped searching and sat down on the side of a passageway to put her head between her knees until everything subsided. 

Not long after she had done so, someone sat down next her, taking their time to slide down against the wall. She peeked out over her knee and was taken aback when she saw Travesty, whittling away at some mystery material with a knife, appearing to be immersed in her work so that she would seem aloof to Harker in her time of need. Again, Harker wanted to believe that rather than thinking that Travesty actually cared about her or her sister. 

“Torque’s been wonderin’ where ya’ve been. Said I would go snoopin’ find ya soon enough. And here we are, with yer cut lookin' like it needs more disinfectant. So, give me an answer, just a quick one, would’ja? Not in the mood to listen to any long explanations.” Travesty finally put away whatever it was she was doing into her pockets and crossed her arms over her knees, looking Harker right in the eyes. “Will ya learn to leave well enough alone with War Boys?”

“What do you mean?” Harker asked, sitting up more.

“Luc’s always had problems with Shaw. Hell, everyone has problems with Shaw. But ‘e’s not gonna leave his lancer just ‘cause ya think ‘e should.”

“How d’ya know I was with Luc?” Harker leaned away, wary now of the other War Girl. 

“Torque mentioned you would be goin’ to the pool and we all damn well knew ya didn’t ask any of us to go with ya if ya didn’t ask ‘er.”

“I can handle myself! I was fine, nothing happened!” Harker snapped. “I always carry my knife with me and I can knock-”

“‘s not just that, Harks,” Travesty sighed and leaned back against the wall for support and she turned her gaze towards the ceiling. “Gotta watch out fer the ones that’ll take ya places in the mind. Hate ta break it to ya, Harks, but there’s always gonna be a Luc and there’s always gonna be a Shaw. Could ‘appen to anybody. You remember how Shelby was when she joined us?”

“Afraid...wanted to go back to him, wanted to apologize for failing him. Thought it was a dream she was living. Er, nightmare for her. Mirage was the only one able to convince her otherwise after the first week.”

“Right. Despite what he did to us and to her and the others, she wanted to go back,” Travesty closed her eyes at the thought for a second before going on again. “How do ya think Luc would feel if ‘e was suddenly without Shaw?”

Harker thought about it until it finally connected with her. “The same?”

Travesty looked back at Harker, grimacing. “The same. Doesn’t know how to be without 'im. Too scared to think of what would 'appen if ‘e hurt or betrayed his lancer by pickin’ another. In denial that Shaw’s harmin’ ‘im. Would be considered soft if ‘e complained about it, too. The life of a War Boy, that is.”

Harker reflected on all of this and suddenly it was all coming together for her. And it just made her angrier and angrier the more she sat there dwelling on the past and present. No one deserved this kind of treatment. No one. She had decided that long ago.

“I’m gonna kill him.”

Travesty gave a short laugh, but noticed how serious she was and it trailed off. “No. That’s not gonna help. It’ll only make things worse-”

“So he’s gonna have to deal with it? I can’t stand by knowing what I know now, Travesty!” Harker stood up abruptly, startling the other War Girl and knocking her over slightly. “Somethin’s gotta change!”

“Luc’s gotta figure this out for ‘imself. ‘s always been this way-”

“And it shouldn’t be! I’m gonna find Tori, she’ll understand,” Harker ran off, literally leaving Travesty coughing from her dust that she kicked up. Not the way she had planned this to go, but it at least got Harker mad enough for the next part of her plan to be set in motion. Okay, so it wasn’t much of an actual plan, and she really did feel bad for Harker and for Luc and the system that kept Luc from getting much needed help and kept Harker from being able to reach out to him. But Harker was furious and that was important. 

With nothing better to do, Travesty pulled out the knife and fatty soap from her pocket and went back to working on carving out the shape of a horse from memory. A nice birthday gift for Viper which would be celebrated in a couple of weeks. Hopefully it wouldn’t be taken the wrong way, but she had her explanation for it ready if need be. She had some time to think of something else if worse came to worse, but she was pretty confident that Viper would understand and appreciate the work she put in to it. Travesty frowned as she nicked off a piece too small for an ear.   
Hopefully.

__________

When the others had all gone to sleep, including Lexus, Travesty got out of her bunk and woke up Viper, signaling her to follow. It was dangerous to wake a sleeping Viper, that she knew about personally, but this was an opportunity that she wasn’t gonna let escape. Once they were out of ear’s reach of the bunks, she came to a stop and confronted the other War Girl.

“Listen, mate, I know ya ‘aven’t been gettin’ much sleep and ya missed out on seeing yer son again tonight, but if ya want yer pen and paper back-”

“Am pure done in an’ I should‘ave known ye did it,” Viper crossed her arms and swung a hip out. Luckily for Travesty, she seemed way too tired to go any further than that, so she continued, knowing for sure she wouldn’t be getting into an argument.

“Yeh, well. Someone hasn’t paid off ‘er debt yet and I’ve got the perfect idea for you to go to Vicky with.”

“Out with it, ye scunner.” 

“Harker’s itchin’ for a fight with any ol’ War Boy. She’s real mad at Shaw, needs to let some steam off. Tell Vicky that, and since Harker won’t be able to calm down anytime soon without an outlet she can’t say no. Get the twins into the pits and you can have yer stuff back. Deal?”

“Ach...someday, Travesty. Mark me words closely lass, all o’ this deal makin’ is gonna make ye wish ye ne’er started none o’ this.”

Travesty looked dumbfounded and leaned in closer. “You’re even worse when you’re tired, can ya repeat that?”

Unbeknownst to Viper, while it sounded clear to her, to Travesty it was just garbled mishmash of words and rubbish that just fell out of her mouth.

“Ament ah? But nay, I cannae other than tell ye to shut yer geggy or stap yer haverin’ e’ery now an’ again. Might save ye lookin’ like a pure tube wan day.”

“I...I’m just gonna nod my head and agree with whatever ya said, mate. Honestly, that was the worst I’ve heard ya talk in a long time. I can only really remember ya bein’ this terrible at speaking was when I was buzzed and you were on yer eighth beer or somethin’”

“Right plastered, we was.”

“Yeh. So that‘s all I wanted to tell ya about. You clearly are too tired for me to go into anymore detail than that.”

“Aye. Aboot time ye noticed, eejit.”

“I understood that one perfectly fine though. Beginnin’ to think you’re just fucking with me.”

“Am no, but I should.”

“Alright. Let’s just get back to the bunks. You’ll do it though?”

“Shite, calm yerself. In the morn.”

“I’m takin’ that as a yes,” Travesty said light heartedly and sped up to get a head start when she heard a low, angry and frustrated noise from the back of Viper’s throat. “Thanks love, ‘ppreciate it!”

As ye should, Viper thought as she yawned, trudging back to the bunks and almost giving in to the thought of collapsing to sleep where she fell. As ye should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my love for Luc knows no bounds and my love for Harker is the same way. Travesty on the other hand...why do u do the things that u do
> 
> AND VIPER JFC DON'T TALK TO VIPER WHEN SHE'S TIRED. JUST DON'T  
> (can u tell i just kind of googled scottish slang and such cos i did ;.;)


	20. The Saga of the Engine Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The ending of the saga, for the most part. The twins have their moments in this one and decide to show off just a smidge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of rewrote some of this cos of changes with characterization. Kind of a longer chapter too. Enjoy!

Viper didn’t want to admit it to anyone but herself that she was genuinely afraid of Vic. Not because she was intimidated by the younger War Girl, but...just the way she looked at you when you said something she didn’t really want to hear or think about was unnerving. Her piercing stare felt like it was looking through you, examining every single detail of your soul to figure out whether or not it was worth a full on confrontation. She spent a lot of time examining, and even then she wasn’t predictable as she easily changed her mind due to your response to her response. A sort of test that she gave as a final assessment. So just before Viper went up to who they all naturally deemed their team leader, she gave herself a little pep talk as she got her morning rations on her own. She might have said it to herself in her head, or out loud accidentally. Either way, she was too deep in thought to take care of keeping her voice clear, so luckily anyone that heard her muttering just thought she was...well, mumbling away over nothing in particular. 

The pits were a place Vic rarely ever wanted to go to. Sometimes if she were in a bad mood, or wanted to indulge the Girls in some kind of activity other than their normal routine, she would have everyone go as a group at first. If anyone got bored, they were allowed to leave with someone else. And sometimes if Vic felt like she had enough, everyone left. Her reason was one of safety as sometimes the War Boys got incredibly hyped up, mostly on drugs and alcohol, sometimes even just testosterone in its own. And while they could definitely handle themselves if worse came to worse, being in a space where men outnumbered them while a majority of them were looking for trouble with anyone to let out pent up anger made her extremely anxious and terrified. Even if the yelling and screaming got to be too much for her, they all left. On a few occasions, those that wanted to stay could, as long as they reported back within an allotted time just so that it would give her some reassurance. And control. It was always control with Vic. Just couldn’t live without it. 

The eldest War Girl understood that to some degree. Vic had gone most of her life in the control of someone else and now she could have some control over herself and others for once in an effort to feel comfortable and safe. She was a natural born leader to begin with, just not a rebellious one like Travesty was. Which is exactly why Viper went to her instead of Vic with the idea of freeing what Joe valued the most. The Wives. In a way it was revenge, in another it was her trying to overcome her own thought process of everyone having a useful purpose, or being throwaway items. When she had been cast out as a Wife and then again as unsuccessful Milking Mother, it had opened her eyes a little to the possibility that maybe there could be something more. Something more free, something that didn’t rely on human beings being treated as objects for trade or usability. Of course, there still needed to be a restricted system as untainted water was scarce now and more mouths to fill meant a faster consumption rate of not just water, but their low food source as well. They were lucky to have the soil that was home to luxury items like potatoes and other greenery on the tops of the Citadel and the Mother’s Milk, rich with vitamins and nutrients for the War Boy population. Something that she was still upset about not being able to provide for her own son, but he was too old for it now anyways. She needed to let it go. 

It was Vic who found Viper first, taking her arm and pulling her aside as she returned to the bunks. It startled Viper and she almost dropped her rations, but Vic helped catch some that fell and handed them back to her, slowly and deliberately. Her actions made Viper want to listen very closely to what Vic had to say because she didn’t seem to be in a good mood. But with Vic it was also hard to tell sometimes. Just like Travesty, her neutral facial expressions hid her emotions well, but unlike Travesty, not for long. She waited for the other to speak, attempting to keep her breathing calm and collected. 

“Griselda.”

Viper just managed to catch herself from flinching at the old name that had once been beautiful to her, now tainted with bad vibes by whoever used it. “Vic.”

“You went to Travesty with this plan of moving up ranks in the first place.”

Not a question. Viper gulped but didn’t let her gaze waver. Instead she went with the defiant route and stood up taller, shoulders back and head held high. A tinge of jealousy swept through her as the height difference was a mere 10 centimeters and it would be easier for her to not feel this way if Vic was more around her height. 

“Aye. She was thinkin’ it too before I said anythin’. Mirage and Lexus included. We should all be doin’ so, the Immortan is growing weaker. If we-”

Vic held her hand up, cutting Viper off. “I don’t want to hear why. I just wanted confirmation. We had a talk and I said something I shouldn’t have. I also wanted to let you know that this plan of yours better not fail.”

That perplexed Viper and she folded an arm across her chest to support the other, one hand going underneath her chin as she tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

“Help the Wives escape and get them to the Green Place. I know I keep doubting its existence, and every time Travesty and I talk about it, I keep putting her down. She doesn’t need that from me. You and the others need to keep her faith up.”

As her suspicion grew, Viper narrowed her eyes, unsure exactly of what Vic was telling her to do even if it seemed clear cut. “Why are you asking this o’ me?”

“Because right now she trusts you the most outside of Lexus. But you, we all know your relationship with...him was more than what he had with us.”

“Aye...what o’ it?” She lowered her arms and put her hands on her hips, sticking one out as she leaned in a little closer, feeling more defensive, ready to end the conversation if she felt Vic crossed the line with her mentions of how the Immortan treated her. At no point did anyone ever ask her if she ever really wanted to become his favorite in the first place, or if she enjoyed it, even now. Her sympathy and empathy for the one called The Splendid Angharad was immense when she found out about the Immortan’s new Wife after what was essentially Viper’s dethroning. 

“You’ll be the key to this success. You are guaranteed to earn his trust. You and Furiosa have proven yourselves capable of following his orders-”

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment,” Viper hissed, annoyance starting to creep into her voice. 

“I know, but it’s worth taking note of. Furiosa is an Imperator out of necessity and opportunity. Survival. Isn’t that why you want to become an Imperator?”

Viper let out a deep sigh and relaxed slightly. “For my son. He deserves to live a better life than this and becoming an Imperator would mean that I can give him more protection. I might get in trouble for favoring him over the other Pups, but...he’s my son and the one thing I don’t want taken from me.”

“And that’s good enough reason by itself,” Vic smiled and laid a hand on Viper’s shoulder, comforting her. It helped the older War Girl think a little clearer and she decided to just go ahead and ask while she the chance to do so without anyone else around. 

“Hm. You said you let Travesty down recently?”

“Not exactly-”

“But enough to warrant a talk with me about helping her,” Viper pointed out, raising an eyebrow. 

Vic let go of Viper and backed up a bit to give herself some extra space. She refused to look Viper in the eyes now, her gaze shifting everywhere, hands and fingers fiddling with each other as she struggled to piece together an explanation. “I wouldn’t say that...that wasn’t exactly...I didn’t mean to-”

“Vic, would you be willing to do a favor for her?”

“Why isn’t she asking me herself?” Vic demanded. It was her turn to feel attacked and Viper had to fight to keep herself from grinning. 

“You hurt her with yer words, lass.”

That made Vic freeze in realization. “Oh. Right...Okay, I guess I can’t say no then, can I?”

Viper nodded. “The Pits. Tonight. She’s in a fierce mood to gamble on the twins and I need to get something back from her.”

“She took something from you?”

“Because I was puttin’ this favor off, honestly. We all know how much you hate going down there and I didn’t know she would hold it against me if I didn’t go through with it.”

“I do...but if you need something back and if Travesty really wants to see the twins fight, then fine. Harker’s gotten really upset over something and she refuses to tell us. And we can’t get anything out of Torque either, and she picks up Harker’s energy so easily, so both of them are incredibly agitated, especially with each other.”

“A li’l tiff with Shaw is what Harker’s lookin’ for, Travesty said. Torque never likes to talk about War Boys with her. A fight about feelings for them is what’s gotten in between them, me thinks.”

“Oh, great. Just what we need, Harker having Boy trouble. Again,” Vic breathed in harshly and let it out slowly, deep in thought. Viper edged away just a tiny bit to see if Vic got the hint. It appeared as if she did because she looked up and gave a small wave, letting Viper know she was free to leave. 

It looked like it was going to be another long day. For all of them this time. Vic huffed and then went back to the bunks in search of Caliper and Savvy to let them know and have them go tell the others of their impromptu trip that night. 

__________

 

“If she’s going, I’m not going.”

“And if she’s going, then I’m not going either!”

“And if the two of ya don’t stop squabblin’, I’m gonna belt ya both to the moon,” Travesty had her eyes closed and was rubbing her temples. Somehow the twins had been told separately about the plan to go down to the Pits and when they found out that the other was going too, another disagreement broke out between them until finally they had to be physically pulled away from each other by Savvy and Caliper. Now they were just pouting and protesting and it was like dealing with the War Pups all over again. Except this time it was kind of expected among the young kids, these were two grown women being petty towards each other and it was getting to be really obnoxious. Lexus hugged her from behind and laid her head on her shoulder, offering support. Surprisingly, it was a little helpful, grounding Travesty and easing her headache for the moment. 

“Why are we even going? We don’t go down there unless something’s going on.”

“Yeah, like if Vic is bored or whatever.”

“Shut up, I was talking.”

“I was just tryin’ to help.”

“Help? You wouldn’t know how to help anythin’ but yerself, ya selfish, smeg eating-”

“Girls!” Vic cut Harker off, getting in between them and holding up her hands in warning. “Calm down. We’re doing this for a reason.”

“Why?”

“Just...because, that’s what we’re doing. Got it? Look, if we hurry up we can grab our usual spots. Shelby stole some greens for all of us to munch on. We won’t be there for long, just long enough to make a few bets and win some extra stuff.”

“Is this because we pushed our bet back?” Torque asked, earning another glare from Harker. Caliper put her arm out in front of her to stop her from doing anything brash and she backed off. 

“Yes…?” Vic didn’t really know how to answer this without mentioning the twisted bargain Viper had dragged her into.

“‘s exactly that. I’m itchin’ for some extra stuff to own and brag about,” Travesty said smugly. “Either way, I get more out of this than everyone else ‘ere.”

“Told ya we shouldn’t have moved it,” Torque muttered. 

“Told me? You didn’t tell me nothin’, you agreed with me about putting it off!”

“Did too! Or did you not hear me over yer thoughts over some Boy?” Torque snapped. It had come out more bitter than she had planned to, but she was feeling a little betrayed after hearing that Harker had gone alone to the pools and ran into Luc, purely out of luck. Or at least that’s how Harker had said. Right now she wasn’t sure if she could believe her sister. She had done this kind of stuff to her in the past and Torque was done with Harker dealing with her War Boy problems.

Harker was frustrated with Torque because this was an important matter to her and she could only trust Torque with her feelings. But since she hadn’t quite explained what exactly it was she had been upset about with Luc, Torque was assuming that Harker just wanted to talk and complain about boy problems. There was only one time before that she had ditched Torque for a guy, but that had been once, when she was excited about her new freedom and thought that Torque’s fake enthusiasm about Harker getting some had been genuine, so she kept seeing the Boy until Torque finally confessed that she had felt abandoned and thrown aside for something new. Harker knew that Torque was feeling this way now, but there was nothing she could to prove otherwise since Torque kept cutting her off or talking over her. 

Vic sighed, breaking the tension building up in their room, and all eyes were on her. “Twins. Just go. We’ll keep you separated until you two learn to be civil with each other again.”

Harker sniffed, her voice a little sharp. “Fine.”

“Works out, just keep her kilometers away from me,” Torque gave Harker one last glare and started to walk off, Savvy behind her. The others soon followed with Caliper by Harker’s side. Harker just shoved her hands into her pockets and kept her eyes on the ground, head swarming with insults and nasty things that she wanted to say to Torque, but felt it to be unnecessary now. 

She didn’t realize it, but she was matching Caliper’s speed and it was only when they were almost down to the pits that she noticed that Caliper was keeping them away from the others just out of earshot. She looked up, silently questioning why.

Caliper cleared her throat and they stopped for a second. “This about Luc?”

“Yeh, it was.”

Caliper’s eyes narrowed. “Did he do anything to you?”

“Nah, but Shaw’s been doing something to him and...I want to gut ‘im,” Harker’s hands curled into fists, anger building up all over again.

“Hm. I can’t say for sure if Shaw will be in the Pits tonight, but if he is, go ahead and waste him. No one’s gonna blame you for it. Plenty of us want that schlanger dead and gone,” Caliper nodded her approval and they continued. “You and Torque gonna make up?”

“Only if she will listen to me,” Harker kicked at imaginary dust. “She’s scared I’m ditchin’ her again. I’m not, I would never leave her side if I could. She’s important to me, more important than tryin’ to be with Luc. Than tryin’ to be with anyone. I ditched her enough times when we were younger and she needs me, more than ever. Every day could be her last. ‘Sides, there’ll be plenty of time for other relationships when...No, I’m not thinking about that right now. Come on Caliper, we need to catch up.”

Harker dashed on up ahead. After thinking for a few moments, Caliper jogged after her. She didn’t know whether or not Harker wanted to talk more about what was going on, but she didn’t want to risk it either. 

When they all got to their usual spot, a ledge overlooking the pits that fit them all like it had been made for them, Harker stood in front of Torque until Torque finally scooted over enough for Harker to sit down next to her. Through whatever method of speechless communication system the twins had between them, Harker had apologized and Torque forgave her. For now. It might have helped that Harker’s eyes were watering, and she really only showed this kind of vulnerability when thinking about Torque’s future.

Everyone else felt relief go through them. All was right again for the time being and now all of their focus could be on the men below gathering in a circle, a generous space in the center for the fights to take place in. Shelby dug out her supply of food and passed it around, making sure that Mirage got the most of what she took. 

Fights were either long and entertaining, or short and brutal. There didn’t seem to be an in between for anything. The announcer for the night was enthusiastic and even got into the ring himself a couple of times. He was an excellent fighter, the War Girls observed. Most bets on him had been on him winning, and no one lost any of their trinkets or personal belongings. 

They had been there for a few hours and a few of the Girls had either gained or lost some of their stuff when it happened. 

The twins stiffened. Out in the ring, they saw one Boy, the Boy whose engine they stole, strut into the center while the other Boys were finishing up their fight. He looked right at the War Girls and then dramatically pointed in their general area. Most of the War Boys turned to them; a few were still watching the brawl. When it was over, they also looked over, aware of how quiet the Pits had become. Who was he going to challenge out of all of them?

“You. The twin War Girls. Two on one fight!” He called, his smile smug and confident.

“Aw, but we beat you last time, mate!” Torque yelled back, keeping her voice sickly sweet. 

“Yeah, and I wasn’t even there!” Harker grinned, giving him the double bird and taking joy in making him annoyed. A few War Boys in the crowd laughed and the twins smirked down at the familiar face, eager for his reply. 

“With no weapons,” the Boy took a step forward towards them, finalizing his challenge. The audience was waiting for them, and it would not be good if they turned him down. Harker looked at Torque, silently asking if it was worth it. Torque rolled her eyes and was about to say no when she found herself being pushed into the ring, along with Harker, by Travesty and Mirage. 

“Come on youse little girls. Show ‘im what you’ve got,” Travesty whispered. She was smiling, but there was ill intent behind it. She was looking forward to their fight, and probably excited to see them fail. Probably already had a bet going. Torque stuck her tongue out at her. 

The crowd parted for them and eventually Travesty and Mirage let go and headed back to the ledge to rejoin their group. The twins were alone in the ring with the guy they had pissed off a couple of weeks ago. Torque was clearly nervous as she was rubbing her arm, trying to soothe herself while Harker was trying to size him up, but was breathing heavily, trying not to reveal how scared she was. By no means did Torque think she was going to be in the ring tonight, and from the way Harker was starting to tremble, neither did she. 

“No weapons match. Two against one. Winner takes all,” exclaimed the announcing War Boy, eyes bright and teeth flashing as the audience responded with cheers and yelling. Harker saw some exchangements and felt personally offended that someone would dare think that she would lose a fight, especially with this smeg piece of work. 

“Wait! What does winner take all mean for this particular fight?” Torque piped up, still rubbing her arm.

“Organic will know. Has to do with what you fucking did to my arm,” The challenging War Boy showed his old wound off to the audience. It had been stitched up crudely and looked like it had some sort of oozing, nasty infection. The Twins looked at each other, amused. They knew Organic wasn’t that terrible at his job. This guy had fucked his own arm up and was blaming the OM to try to threaten them as well. It wouldn’t work.

“Sounds pretty fair, Harker,” Torque smiled slyly, feeling better now. Harker matched her smile. 

“Sounds like a load of bollocks, Torque.”

The Boy turned to them glaring, making them giggle at his seriousness. “And I get my engine back.”

That made Torque erupt into full laughter. He was still fucking hung up on the damn engine. She didn’t even care that he was stalking closer and closer to them and that the laughing was causing her windpipe to constrict. Un-fucking-believable. 

“Are the terms settled?” The announcer asked, looking a little impatient. In fact, he didn’t even wait for an answer from any of them. “Then fight!”

The crowd erupted in cheers and jeers. It was actually a little overwhelming for the twins. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t participated in fights with the guys before, it was just that this time, all of the attention was on them, which was unusual. Who the fuck did they piss off?

The War Boy targeted Torque first, clearly having more beef with her than Harker even though she had been the one to physically take the engine away from him. He split them up and while Torque backed up trying to figure out how to hit him, she saw Harker from the corner of her eye, grinning menacingly. She knew exactly what she was planning. Torque continued to pretend that she was cornered and was going to be an easy win while Harker untied her red scarf. 

“Not as brave as you were last time, girly,” The Boy taunted. “Scared now that you can’t use your fucking wrench?”

“Sorry mate, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” She offered. “Still find it funny that yer shitty prank backfired on ya.” At this point she was getting closer and closer to the crowd. A few hands pushed at her back, trying to get her to fight him. She glanced at Harker, then back at the Boy, gulping loudly, still trying to seem like she was scared of him. She edged up a bit, balling her fists up. She could easily take him down, she knew she could if it came down to that, but she was also starting to get excited because Harker was quietly making her way up behind him.

The other twin gave a shrill whistle, causing the Boy to turn and look around as if he had forgotten he was fighting them both at the same time. Torque snarled and then charged straight at the Boy, who was surprised that they were ganging up on him. He dropped form just for an instant, and in that instant Torque ran straight into his stomach, head butting him. It threw him off balance just enough and Harker kicked him in the back using both of her legs. In a chance to show off, she backflipped off of him, taking a little bow as the crowd started to grow louder. Torque rolled her eyes and walked around to the front of the War Boy, who was disoriented, to take a breather. When he collapsed, Harker swiftly climbed on top of him, stood on his hands and hooked the scarf underneath his neck, laughing manically at his pain. Pulling up forcefully, she started choking him. 

Technically that was a foul since she was using something as a weapon, but even the announcer was rooting them on and telling the Boy to get the fuck up and turn them into rust. It gave Torque an idea for the finale. She slowly kneeled down in front of him, getting close to his ear, wanting to make a clear point to him. One that he wouldn’t forget easily. 

“Dear Brother, know who you’re dealing with before ya try shit with them,” She started. She stood back up and took a few steps back. “No hard feelings, at least not from me,” She took a deep breath, her cheeks hurting from the huge smile on her face as the terror began to dawn on him. “Heads up, wanker!”

She ran, spun, and then kicked him under the jaw with the back of her heel, snapping his neck to the side forcefully. He immediately went completely limp and Harker got off of him when she thought it was safe, spitting on his head as she retied her scarf around her neck. 

It had gone awfully quiet and the twins surveyed everyone around them. Some jaws were hanging open, some were handing over their trinkets and other valuables seeing that they clearly lost the bet. 

“What?” They both asked, perplexed by the collective reaction.

The announcer cautiously walked over to the unconscious Boy and checked for a pulse. When the Twins realized what he was doing, they looked at each other and then started backing up, grabbing each other’s hands. If they killed that Boy they were going to be in some deep shit. Especially since they noticed some other Boys were starting make their way over to them, two of them being the ones Torque knocked out the first time. 

Luckily, the Boy was alive. They could tell from the announcer’s look of brief relief before ordering the pair of Boys to take him to the Organic Mechanic. He walked over to them, his brow furrowed. 

“Should punish you both for going against the rules and almost killing him,” He said. “But…That was the most shine and quickest battle I’ve seen in a while.” He gave them a friendly smile and they felt more at ease knowing that the announcer approved and didn’t feel it necessary to ding them on this one. “Excellent work!”

“Well, he wasted my time a while back.”

“And we called him out on it.”

“He and his two friends gave chase. I fought all three of them by myself,” Torque said, puffing up her chest. She was still proud of that. The War Boy nodded and stuck his hand out. 

“Name’s Ulrich.”

Harker took it first enthusiastically. “Harker! And this is my twin, Torque!”

“Hi,” Torque said, shaking his hand quickly, suddenly feeling self conscious. 

“Nice work. Anyways, should probably set up the next fight-”

“Girls, Vic wants to go. She’s got some plans for later tonight to celebrate your victory,” Viper showed up behind them, wrapping her arms around their shoulders, pulling them closer to her and away from the War Boy.

“Hey,” Ulrich stuck his hand out again, but Viper just looked at it skeptically. 

“Hey yourself, laddie. Not in the mood to talk to li’l Boys tonight,” Viper looked him up and down, her expression unreadable. 

“When will you be?” Ulrich asked. The twins rolled their eyes. Viper always managed to attract unwanted attention and they weren’t surprised Ulrich was pulled into her strange spell too.

She narrowed her eyes and let go of the twins, stepping through them and towards Ulrich, who smartly took a few steps back. “How about right now then, aye? Have you had enough talk, laddie?”

“Probably,” Ulrich stood his ground, deciding to test the waters with her. “Depends on who’s definition of enough we’re counting on.”

Viper tilted her head, putting her hands on her hips. She was taking him in, trying to find something to say. To the twins’ surprise she shrugged and walked away, leading them back to their group as quickly as possible.

“What the fuck Vee, you didn’t say anything nasty for once,” Harker noted.

“Yeah, what’s up with that?”

“Waste of breath to speak to him further. Too much to point out in one go,” She said. “Would have been faster pointing out his strengths, but I’d hate to boost the lad’s ego.”

“Ouch, that bad?” Torque shook her head. “Poor guy.”

Once they were all reunited again Vic lead them back to their meeting area for a quick break from all the testosterone and adrenaline. They would be going back. Travesty didn’t see exactly what she had wanted, but it had been enough for her to not push anything further. Lexus on the other hand, was already thinking of ways to get rid of the gifts she was about to receive when the time came. One day Travesty would find out about her own games she played with other people and it might be bad, but for now. Now was just a time to celebrate a fun victory before going back out there to watch more fights, hopefully just as exciting as Torque and Harker's had been.

If only they knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, I may or may not update this week. There's a lot going on, but the next part is almost finished too. I hope to get back on schedule soon!


	21. Slow Poison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viper fights Ulrich, determines he might be a good candidate for becoming a partner. Maybe.

Everyone save for Savvy, Caliper, and Vic left, which was different, definitely. Savvy was having some cramping issues, which was a sign that the rest of them were going to go through their cycle soon, but everyone else really wanted to go back to the Pits. Well, mostly Torque and Harker wanted to go back for the sake of soaking in compliments while the other girls were still in the mood to watch men beat each other up, despite how bad that sounded. A little alcohol in their system helped kill nerves or rationality too. As they retook their place, shooing some of the younger War Boys away, there was a little bit of a commotion and they all glanced over their shoulders to see Ulrich being pushed into the ring by his friends. He was smiling and laughing, but he clearly did not want to be there, probably tired from fighting so much already. Eventually he gave up and walked into the middle of the ring, taking a few moments to collect himself. When he reopened his eyes, he began his search to find an opponent when he noticed that the Girls had returned. It was obvious he was surprised, but he tried to ignore them and play it cool until another driver yelled at him to “just do it!”. 

Ulrich deliberately returned his gaze nonchalantly towards the Girls and locked eyes with Viper, not wavering and not flinching. The other girls followed and gasped in unison when they realized he was basically asking Viper to fight him, but did he know what he was getting himself into? She was tense, unmoving, and by the looks of it, had stopped breathing. But her eyes were shining and there was a small hint of a smile on her lips as they twitched in response to his question. 

“Uh oh, looks like trouble,” Torque said, wrapping her arms around herself with Harker energetically nodding along in agreement. 

“Vi, ‘e hasn’t actually challenged you. Ya don’t need to accept,” Travesty pointed out. She looked skeptically towards the crowd of Boys that were starting to whisper to each other, then at Ulrich, glaring at him to make a point. His eyes were still locked onto Viper and he didn’t seem to notice the dirty looks, or just didn’t care. “Don’t do it just ‘cause 'e wants ya to and ‘cause the other smegs try to pressure you.”

“For once I agree with Travesty on something. You probably shouldn’t do it Viper, he’s probably looking for yer attention. Ignore him, ’s not worth it,” Torque chimed in, leaning against Harker. 

“Hm.” 

They all waited for her response, literally on the edge of their seats. Would she or wouldn’t she? Normally when Viper was challenged she flat out refused, but when she did accept, things turned out awful for the opposing party, and while the Girls were interested in a good fight, one with Viper usually ended up with someone being dragged to see Organic, much like what happened with the twins earlier. Shelby looked like she was about to add something, but held her tongue instead, probably feeling like it wasn’t her place to talk about this yet but Mirage could guess that it was going to be encouraging from the way she looked at the others before silencing herself. 

Finally, Viper rose and nodded at him, sparking cheers from the War Boys. They parted for her and she began her descent, taking out her hand wraps to prep for the fight. Her walk was confident and smooth. She knew she could take him and so did everyone else. Except maybe Ulrich himself and his friends. This was going to be a fantastic fight then and bets immediately began amongst everyone. It was all or nothing for this particular round.

“Honestly, how does she do that?” Harker asked to no one in particular.

“Beats me, but I wish I had that power,” Travesty said. Another thing they all agreed upon. 

As Viper got closer to the ring, one War Boy loudly announced that she had been the Immortan’s favorite, and to fall from His grace, she must have done something awful and that Ulrich better watch out. This was followed by snickering and obnoxious guffaws that set her on edge. She caught sight of the one Boy, unluckily for him, then determined that something must be done to let him know that she wouldn't tolerate this talk.

“Bring him forth,” She demanded calmly, pointing at him. The Boy kept on laughing, but it soon turned nervous as he found himself directly in front of her. The guys who basically worshipped her had shoved him forward, giddy and more than happy to see what she would do to him. 

She cocked her head, taking in his features. This would be a fair way to let Ulrich prep himself for the upcoming fight between them, maybe even giving her the upper hand if he didn’t like what he saw. “You were manhandled so quickly and easily. I assume that happens quite often.”

“You want to manhandle me? Is that was this is?” he scoffed, amused. He was just so happy with himself that she couldn’t help but smile, too. 

“Kneel.”

“What?”

He didn’t stand a chance. While his mouth was open in confusion, she grabbed his lower jaw and pulled him down till he was on his knees. He yelped and tried to get back up but she placed a hand on his forehead and pulled down further, making him scream out in pain. She had stretched his jaw, not enough to break it, but enough to get his full attention and to instill fear in him. She would not allow mockery or doubt directed towards her, and ultimately the other War Girls. Breeders or not, they had come this far, which meant that they were capable of dealing with anything they were put through. 

“Tell me something, War Boy,” she practically sang. “Do ye know 'ow much more useful you would be if ye didn’t speak?”

He tried to talk back with something snarky, but he couldn’t properly make words. Drool was pooling and dripping from his mouth, a sickening sight to witness as he started trembling, finally gripping her hand that was pulling down his jaw, trying to pry her off of him. Instead of that helping him, it only stretched his mouth further, causing him even more pain, so he gave up and just waited for her next move, even going so far as to shut his eyes.

She let go and walked away, continuing on as if nothing had happened, eyes on a bewildered Ulrich who was glancing between his advancing opponent and the other War Boy, still on his knees struggling to get up again, rubbing his jaw to soothe it in the process.

“You-you filth!” He started to jog after her once he got his bearings, but she pivoted unexpectedly, punching him hard, snapping his jaw in a single graceful move that proved to be efficient. He gripped it, only making the pain worse and he collapsed onto his knees again, in complete agony. More drool and spit started to fall from his mouth as well as a few drops of blood from his newly split skin from the force of contact. Another Boy that the other War Girls assumed was his Lancer pushed his way through the crowd and went straight to his side to help him up, whispering angrily at him as they walked, or rather, stumbled away.

A collective sound of gasps and “ohhhs” swept through the crowd as she finally walked into the ring, one side of her mouth upturned in a small smirk. Ulrich, to his credit, looked back at his friends and then started to back away, rethinking his decision.

“Don’t back out now, Ricky dear. You need to see who you’re trying to get to know,” Viper finished up with her hand wraps, scowling at him, keeping her voice clear, calm and steady. “And I want to know who you are.”

The War Boy hesitantly made a decision, one that made the rest of the War Girls squeal in anticipation and grip onto each other in excitement. He stayed, even walking up to her, sizing her up. 

“Good choice, Ulrich.”

“Any terms?” He asked.

“Sure,” Viper began circling him, predatory like, testing him. “Winner gets to choose what they want to do to the other person.”

“You want to elaborate on that?” He gulped, slightly taken aback. If he won, he would take the terms with a grain of salt. She did not seem like she meant it as her face had grown darker, hatred filling her eyes briefly, but it didn’t seem to be directed towards him in any manner. It still left an impression on him.

“No. Your terms?”

“Your terms are fine.”

Viper raised an eyebrow, stopping in her tracks and put her hands on her hips. “Really? No questions about what I would to do you if I won?”

“After seeing what you did to that guy, I don’t think I want to know.”

“Fine. The terms are settled,” Viper stopped in front of him. She actually looked happy for a second before her face returned to its indifferent state. 

The temporary announcer spoke up, stating the terms louder so those farther away could hear and then signaled the fight to start. Both of them immediately put up their fists in a defensive position and started to move around the ring. Viper jabbed first, her swing blocked, but Ulrich didn’t retaliate. 

“Don’t ye fucking 'old back on me, Ulrich. I hate pushovers,” She spat. “Even as a breeder ye wouldn’t stand a chance against me then. We are one and the same. Now put some life into yer fight an' 'ave a go, aye?”

That shocked him and he nodded. 

“Alright then.”

The brawl actually started. He swung with a right hook, then a followup left hook, swifter than the War Girls thought possible. Viper seemed to have anticipated both and blocked, spreading his arms to open up his chest, making it way easier to tackle him. He threw her off of him easily due to the momentum and then rolled on top of her, straddling her waist. He began to punch her as hard as he could. He got a few good ones in, giving her a black eye before she caught one of his fists and with her other hand, grabbed his throat, using her thumb to press into his windpipe, cutting off his air violently. After choking for a few seconds, he used his free hand and managed to remove hers from his throat and shoved it down to the ground, pinning it. He then easily shook her grip from his other hand and pinned that one down too. He leaned down to get right into her face, a menacing expression threatening her to just try and get away. Viper was delighted and couldn’t help the grin from spreading ear to ear. Adrenaline and what little alcohol that was in her was making this funner than she expected. Well, it was mostly the adrenaline, she hadn’t even finished a bottle of rotgut before coming back so she couldn’t exactly blame that. 

“This sure is a cute scene, aye laddie?” Viper said, practically singing again. They could hear the faint sounds of whistles and lewd comments, but they both tuned it out, too invested in working the other out in order to win. “Don’t be sorry, Ricky. I ain’t sorry for nothing, and look at where that’s gotten me,” She slammed her head into his, breaking his nose, and then again when he didn’t immediately get off of her. Soon as her hands were free, she punched him as hard as she could into his solar plexus, effectively throwing him off completely. He crumpled to the floor in a fetal position, getting booed by the crowd.

Ulrich was trying his best to get back up. He was weary as Viper had begun to circle him again, still grinning. She had him in a very vulnerable position and she knew it. However, she was letting him have the chance to catch his breath, which was strange to him. She clearly had the upper hand and was more than capable of winning now, but she was giving him the opportunity to come back. And other than her first punch, trying to choke him out, and then the other three hits, she didn’t seem like she was trying to win. What was this to her? His mind was having trouble coming up with answers.

Little did he know that she was assessing him for the last time, trying to make up her mind. She liked him, that was for sure. He didn’t back down from her, respected her even before she broke that other Boy’s jaw, but she felt that he was still holding back on her. He did however, manage to pin her down, which was good. He could use some more guidance and she was willing to work with that. But mostly she knew it wasn’t her place as a lancer to choose a driver, however, she was in the market as it were. She had grown tired of going out solo on trips and decided that having a driver wouldn’t be such a bad idea, if he could prove to hold his own, and Ulrich was attempting to do just that. 

The War Boy finally got up, a little unsteady, but he was standing nonetheless. His nose was bleeding pretty badly from the two hits he took, the fresh, warm red liquid flowing down onto his chest, a stark contrast to his white paint. He put up his fists, defensive. She didn’t.

“Hit me,” She spread her arms, letting herself be completely vulnerable. Another test for him. He didn’t take the bait like she had wanted him to.

“No.”

“Hit me.”

“No!”

“Hm,” Viper narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. “Had enough?”

“Depends on whose definition of enough we’re talking about,” Ulrich replied cautiously. 

Viper smirked, amused. “How about yours this time?”

“Fine,” He dipped down, swinging his leg out and kicked her behind the knees. Surprised, she fell forward, and he was back on top of her, pulling her arm behind her back, threatening to dislocate it. Yelling in pain, she tried to buck him off, but he had several pounds of muscle on her, despite her immense strength. She struggled some more, trying to kick him, but he was too far up for her legs to reach. It seemed like the fight was about to end when she actually started to slide out from underneath him, grinding her jaw together to prevent her from fully screaming from the pain she was putting her arm though. 

Ulrich put a stop to her escape, wrapping one arm around her neck to put her into a headlock, the other hand forming a fist to press his knuckles into her lower back. On top of that, he placed a knee there too for added support. He then slowly raised her up, keeping her lower back in place, putting stress on the spine. She tried again to escape, but he was able to bend her to the point that she signaled to him that she gave in. 

He let go gently, afraid that he might actually break her back or seriously injure her otherwise. Viper coughed a couple of times violently, then cleared her throat, rubbing at her neck. Ulrich got off of her, unsure of what to do, so he sat down next to her while she recovered. She laid there for a few seconds trying to regather her strength before rising, offering a hand to Ulrich once she was standing to show no hard feelings towards him. He took it and they just looked at each other, a little smile on their lips. He had earned her full respect and he knew it. It was impressive for both of them.

During the entire fight both had forgotten that they were being watched by 100 people or so. It was Ulrich’s friends and Travesty that got them to snap out of it and be brought back down to reality. 

“‘e almost killed you, Vi,” Travesty practically growled, grabbing her shoulder to make her look at her. She was angry that Viper put herself in such a vulnerable position, even if it was what Viper wanted. “Could’a snapped yer back easily, you’d’ve been paralyzed.”

“I know.”

“And you’re not worried about that? You lost, 'e’s got you all to hi’self now, why the fuck didn’t ya take ‘im out when you had the chance?”

“Don’t question my decisions, Travesty. I don’t question yours,” Viper hissed, then looked down at her hand on her shoulder in disgust.

Travesty sighed and released her, pushing her way past the other Girls after grabbing Lexus’s hand. Torque and Harker hesitantly came up to her, clinging onto each other nervously, with Harker speaking up first.

“Viper, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Torque asked.

“Yes. Please leave, I have much to discuss with Ulrich now that the fight is over.”

Mirage and Shelby were whispering to each other, occasionally looking at her, but Viper waved her hand to shoo them away. Mirage was about to say something, but thought better of it when she noticed that Torque and Harker were glaring at them both. They probably overheard what was being said and didn’t agree with it. Viper watched as they finally all decided to leave, giving Viper the space she needed. She loved her friends and sisters but. Not now.

Meanwhile, Ulrich seemed to be trying to pull away from his friends as they crowded him. He was eager to talk to her and she could tell. For a brief moment she questioned herself as to whether or not this was a good idea. Memories came flooding in at once, but she shook her head, getting rid of them easily. He was not Immortan Joe, but that did not mean he could not be like him. She decided to believe that he was better, if not no where close to Joe. 

He finally ended his talk with his friends and he sauntered over to her, offering his hand. “I know I introduced myself last time and gave my name, but I’m hoping to learn yours.”

This time she took it without a second thought, shaking it firmly. “Viper. A type of snake with a dry or venomous bite. I happen to like snakes,” she said, patting the tattoo of a viper wrapped aorund her upper left arm.

“That’s pretty shine. I don’t know what my name means-”

“It means prosperity and power,” Viper may or may not have looked up his name in the few books that she had smuggled from the vault long ago, not realizing that she would meet an Ulrich at all. Names meant a lot to her. Could tell you a lot about someone and she thrived off of reading other people. 

“Oh,” Ulrich scratched the back of his neck. “Well now I know. Thanks.”

“Walk with me, aye? I don’t like staying in the pits for long and we have to discuss the terms more. Aye, you won and you get to do whatever you want to me; I gave you permission when I said them. My limits, however, must be taken into account.”

“Okay.”

She hadn’t let go of his hand as she had the intent on leading the way. The Boys in front of her made room for them and congratulated Ulrich on his victory. There were some implications of them going off to have a good time, but Viper didn’t mind it. At least not right now.

When they were finally free from the majority of people, she dropped his hand instantly and walked beside him instead of in front. 

“Tell me, Ulrich. What do you want to do?” She kept herself as neutral as possible. Permission had been given. He was willing to listen to her limits. She needed to remember that.

“Since I didn’t expect to win, I’m not sure. I’m not interested in rutting,” He said quickly, putting his hands up to express his innocence. She laughed curtly, making him frown. 

“And why not? Are you not interested?”

“You want the honest answer?”

Viper stopped in her tracks, putting her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. She was incredibly skeptical, but she was willing to hear him out. 

“I just met you. I don’t...I don’t rut with people I just met. I do want to get to know you. And I do like you.”

She nodded. “And I like you. And I believe what you say.”

“You do?”

Viper raised her eyebrow even higher than before. “Unless you plan on proving otherwise.”

“I really don’t. And I’m telling you the truth. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“Rutting with strangers?”

“Yeh.” 

“‘s interestin'. Look, while you decide what you would like to do, I can patch us up. I’m starting to get a nasty headache and the blood from yer nose doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.”

“Oh, right,” Ulrich started to pat his pants, looking for something. Eventually he managed to find the right pocket and pulled out a rag and started to clean up the blood that had landed on his chest before clamping it down on his nose. “Sounds good.” 

“The girls will kill me if I take you back to our little corner of the Citadel, so I’m going to have to ask for you to wait in the bunks. I’ll fix us up there.”

“The bunks?” 

“Aye.”

“You sure about that?” 

She rolled her eyes. Or mostly, her good eye. The bruising around her left one was getting worse and puffier by the minute. “Wouldn’t be my first time there, laddie. I sleep there, too.” 

“Okay, just making sure,” Ulrich raised his hands again and then dropped them, suddenly disappointed. “How long will I have to wait?”

Viper couldn’t help but laugh, needing to place a hand on his arm to steady herself as the sudden movement made her dizzy. “Not long, not long at all, Ulrich. You won’t be missing me for long.”

She didn’t wait for anymore talk from him. She had things to attend to and he couldn’t impede her more than he already had. Swiftly, she made her way back to the girls, ignoring their questions and going to where they kept their supplies. She popped some painkillers and grabbed some ice, holding it to her eye. She quickly gathered the supplies that she needed, shoving everything into any useful pockets, then barged through everyone trying to stop her. There was no time to talk. She needed to get back to Ulrich before she started to doubt her decision to trust him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dies  
> Why do I keep updating these so early in the morning when I gotta get up like, 5 hours later  
> Who knows  
> Slow Poison is a song by The Bravery


	22. Cracks in the Foundation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing prepares everyone for the upcoming stand offs between each other, which signal the end of an era.

Slow, controlled breathing, a cool cloth over her eyes, and minimal movement were not what Savvy had in mind for the evening and night. And basically the rest of the week. Or two weeks. Holy shit, this part of her cycle was too irregular for her to really estimate how long she would have to be putting up with it, but at least thanks to her, the others knew when theirs would come, giving them a little more time to prepare. Lucky them. Cramps were the bane of Savvy’s existence, and there weren’t enough drugs in their world to help lessen the excruciating pain in her lower abdominal and back area. Savvy adjusted herself against Caliper’s body so that she was kind of hugging her, kind of sprawled lazily everywhere, but mostly on Caliper. 

“I think ‘m actually dying this time...”

“I know,” Caliper rubbed her back soothingly, watching Vic pace around the room, her mind probably going haywire with worry over the others. She adjusted herself slightly so that her leg would have circulation again as it was falling asleep thanks to Savvy laying where ever she wanted. 

“No, you don’t,” Savvy scoffed, sliding the rag up a little to meet her friend’s eyes. “You don’t bleed like the rest of us and ya never have.”

“Nah, that’s true.”

“And because of that, you’re the worst person I know, Cali,” Savvy nodded in affirmation, although it was clear that she wasn’t serious about her claim. 

Caliper threw her head back and laughed. “Then you don’t know a lot of people then, do ya, love?”

“I know plenty. ‘m discounting Old Joey out of this one ‘cause no one could take his bloody throne.”

“Eh, I dunno how I feel about that now.”

“Flattered, I bet.”

“Deeply.”

“Hey Vic, Caliper says she’s flattered with being a terrible person.”

Vic nodded in agreement, but she actually didn’t really hear what Savvy had said. It was just white noise to her and it just barely penetrated her thoughts about allowing the others to be without her at the Pits. She knew it was a long time coming as they were all adults and could take care of themselves, it was just that her distrust of the War Boys was growing, but she wasn’t exactly sure why. It was probably due to Harker’s new involvement with Luc, but that wasn’t exactly it either. Most likely what was annoying her was Shaw, and it would continue to bother her until Harker cut ties with Luc. Yes, that was highly probable. As much as she encouraged relationships to be built between them and the War Boys in a kind of attempt for recovery and building truces or alliances, it just wasn’t a good idea to get too involved. The only obvious exception was Viper, who as the eldest and with a son, and she got along great with War Boys, always had. She was good at negotiations and knew how to put people in their places right quick. She wasn’t scared to let others know where they stood with her. 

A small piece of metal hit her shoulder, and it bounced off, making her stop and just look at the other two War Girls in confusion, still not fully comprehending that Savvy wanted something.

“Hey Vic, if ya don’t pay attention to me real soon, I’m taking Caliper back to the bunks and you’re gonna have to convince the both of us why you should join us and not Travesty for the night.”

The mention of Travesty snapped her out of her thoughts, creating a new sense of stress that she didn’t need. “What about Travesty?”

“Told ya she’d freak. Anyways, we’ve been tryin’ to get yer attention for a couple of minutes. Neither of us wanna move to get more painkillers and I’m also really close to emptying my guts out.”

“Want to move? You won’t let me get up, ya little wanker,” Caliper teased. 

“Shhh,” Savvy placed a finger upon Caliper’s smiling lips. “pillows do not talk.”

“And pillows lose their fluff if used too often.”

“You’re so matter-of-fact about that, you’re a pillow, not a dictionary, mate.”

“Promise I can be more than just a pillow, I’ve got other talents under my belt.”

“Oh yeah?” a small grin spread across Savvy’s face. “Prove it-AHH!” Savvy yelped and curled up into a fetal position, rolling off of Caliper, and no longer felt like playing around anymore. Vic immediately ran to get her more painkillers, but she needed to be careful about how many Savvy consumed before one: they ran out, and two: she overdosed. “Bloody hell, aww, fuck, that’s really not fair mate, why do I get the worst out of everyone? I hate all of you!” 

The agony Savvy was in was getting to Caliper as she really was dumbfounded when it came to cycles. She herself was incapable of having one due to how different her body was compared to the others and while it made her self conscious and left her feeling cut off within their group, that was probably one thing that she was sure she didn’t envy. She did the only thing she did now how to do during this time, which was provide comfort and soothing words. 

Vic and Caliper sat down on either side of their friend and offered Savvy anything that she needed. It seemed like it would be a good idea to go back to the bunks so that she could get some rest, but unfortunately the migraine that was starting to pierce Savvy’s skull meant that they were stuck there now until it subsided enough to make the journey back. When that happened, Caliper would go and get all of their rations, and probably make some bribes to get more food to help Savvy keep her strength up during the next couple of weeks. 

They had about 10 minutes of quiet before they could hear shuffling outside of the rock door, and they braced themselves for whoever it was that was going to come inside. 

“Viper got taken down by a Boy and the terms they set aren’t good, but she didn’t want to listen to us,” Travesty lumbered in first, hands in her pockets. She nodded at Savvy, a half smile on her lips, mocking her discomfort. 

Savvy groaned and covered her eyes again with the cloth and tried to shut everyone out. 

“She didn’t get taken down, she’s been looking for a partner for a long time, and he met her standards when it came to fighting,” Torque stated. That much was true, Viper had been hinting at taking on a partner, possibly a War Boy that would need a little guidance when it came to fighting, but could still keep up with her with little to no problems. 

“What about Greer?” Vic furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, getting up and pacing around the room again. “I thought she was looking at him for a partner.”

Travesty scoffed, found a place in a corner to sit where she was near the others, but kept a safe distance by making sure she had a clear path to the exit if she wanted to leave. She pulled Lexus down into her lap with her, snickering at Lexus’s small cry. “He obviously didn’t make the cut, and all her other War Boy friends are taken in terms of partnering up. Don’t worry, this one probably won’t work out either.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it, he surprised her in that final move where he almost broke her back while suffocating her,” Harker was still impressed about that and didn’t bother to hide it from the others. While she and her sister’s fight with their War Boy, it didn’t seem as exciting as the one Viper had been in. 

“I wouldn’t be bettin’ either if I was youse since none of ya bet very well to being with.”

“Shush,” the twins told Travesty at the same time, taking satisfaction in watching her flinch. 

“I said stop doin’ that!”

“Sorry,” Torque and Harker started giggling uncontrollably. Travesty just did not look happy with them. Lexus whispered something to her and the lanky War Girl nodded and elected to ignore the twins for now. 

“So, what were they fighting for?” Caliper brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “You said the terms weren’t good.”

“In her words: ‘Winner gets to do what they want to the other’,” Shelby told her as casually as she could, sitting down with Mirage across from Travesty and Lexus.

“What?” Vic and Caliper gasped in unison. In the background, Travesty rolled her eyes. 

They all heard the sound of the large rock roll away and everyone snapped their heads to watch Viper head straight for the medical supplies without so much as an explanation, causing a ruckus amongst most of them who were shouting over each other to try and ask her their questions. The eldest War Girl was on a mission it seemed like since she didn’t seem to even see them in the room and she was out in no time, shoving them out of her way with one arm as the other was preoccupied with holding an icepack to her black eye. 

“She better have a damn good explanation for all of this,” Vic was furious. It really wasn’t her place to think badly of what Viper did in her free time, but still she needed to make sure that Viper was in her right mind as well as not traumatically hurt since she hadn’t been there to witness the fight. Vic stood up quickly and looked around the room. “Will someone go tail her?”

“Leave ‘er alone, Vicky. Leave ‘er alone. ‘s not like this is Harks we’re talkin’ about.”

“Hey!”

Travesty patted Lexus’s legs a couple of times until she got up from her lap. Slowly and stiffly, the lanky War Girl stood up, brushing dust off her pants as she walked over to Vic. “If they work out together, then they work out together. She’s been away from us before with others.”

“But not as quickly,” Vic pointed out. “This was really fast.”

“Look, we’re assuming that they’re gonna go off and do somethin’, which is kind of pervy even in itself. So what if they swap paint, let ‘er live a little.”

“I’m not-I’m not implying anything of the sort!” Vic said defensively. “I’m worried about her safety! Of everyone’s safety! We stick together, it makes sense!”

“Vicky, you need to calm down, she’s perfectly fine-”

“If no one is gonna keep an eye on her, then I will,” Vic brushed past Travesty roughly and began to make her way towards the entrance of their room when she was blocked by Travesty’s arm, and then her full body as she created a barrier. 

“Vic. ‘s not yer place to decide what she can and cannot do. ‘s really not fair to ‘er or the rest of us if ya keep this up, mate. Just try to relax a little on the reigns maybe, yeah?”

“We only have each other, I want us to be safe at the end of the day. That’s my goal.”

Travesty walked up to the other War Girl rapidly, pointing a finger in Vic’s face, making her back up as she retaliated. The burns on her face were accentuated by the candle light, scaring Vic for a second. “You want to keep us safe? You want us to be together? You want to reach that bloody goal?”

“Yes!” Vic finally stopped, bringing herself up to her full height, scowling, but it didn’t make Travesty back down. Really it only made her even more passionate about her cause.

“Then you’ve gotta let go.”

The tension in the room appeared to have come to its climax. Everyone was barely breathing as the two lead War Girls held their ground against each other, each violating the other’s personal space as the argument between them kept going on in silence through their eyes. 

Finally, Vic caved, shoulders slumping, eyes going to the ground, arms folding under her chest. She was hugging herself to hopefully stop her anxiety from getting worse as she contemplated. “Okay. Okay, yes, that’s fair, I just…”

“Victoria?” Travesty laid t a hand tenderly to the side of Vic’s face, getting her attention again, then brought their foreheads together. The intimacy was just barely subtle, and the tension gave way to uncomfortableness for everyone else, more so for Lexus, Caliper and Savvy. “It’s for the best. If ya don’t, how can we trust you to trust us?”

Blinking a couple of times, the question repeated over and over again in her head, and then Vic’s heart skipped a beat at the realization.“You can’t.”

“Exactly, love. Exactly. We can’t trust you if ya restrict our movements. I get that we need to stick together and we will, promise you that. But the rest of us need to move on with our lives. Let ‘er live. She deserves that.”

Vic nodded slowly and Travesty stepped away, looking forlorn, but she sucked it up and returned to Lexus’s side, not making eye contact with her. Lexus signed something, too quick for the others to notice, but it seemed like Travesty was done talking in general, earning a loud sigh from her lover. 

“So,” Harker’s voice cut through the weird energy that had built up. She was pouting and had her arms crossed, overdramatic on purpose in hopes of lightening things up a bit again. “why is it that no one treats me this way when I wanna have some fun?”

“‘cause you’re way more reckless when it comes to relationships with Boys. You remember those pregnancy scares when Organic looked a little too pleased to check on you about it?” Mirage responded dryly. Everyone else nodded in agreement, especially Torque. 

Harker shuddered. “Oi, just when I thought I blocked that out. But I’m more careful now, that has to count for somethin’, doesn’t it? I don’t do anythin’ too risky.”

Travesty’s head whipped around to look at Harker. She took a deep breath, and marched up as tall as she could to loom over the naïve girl, wanting to get it through her head how serious this issue was. Lexus hesitated at pulling her back, knowing now that Travesty wasn’t in a good mood at all and she feared she was going to take it out on anyone around her.

“Harks, they’re expectin’ us to become pregnant, don’t ya realize that? Milking Mothers are needed, they’re accepted all the time from the moment they start producin’, and not only that, we’re just addin’ to Joe’s army of suicidal children. They will force us to term, and if that doesn’t happen, then they turn us loose, thinkin’ that it’ll ‘appen again.”

“And I get that-”

“No ya don’t!” Travesty’s anger was building up to the point that the others were on their toes in case she and Harker got into a physical fight. “Ya really don’t, kid. Viper is incapable of producing milk and if she has another child, we know she won’t be taken away from us. You on the other ‘and, we’re all worried sick over you bein’ taken. You wanna ‘ave some of that so called ‘fun’? Then go ahead, I just got through speaking with Vic about letting the rest of us live, so this is makin’ me pretty fuckin’ hypocritical, but for you, you keep putting yerself in danger on purpose if you really understand the consequences. And I’m beginnin’ to think that you’re treatin’ this like a joke.”

Harker’s eyes watered and she looked ready to start crying through her opposing glare, prompting Torque to grab her hand and step slightly in front of her. Her twin squeezed it tight enough to let her know that she was grateful for stepping in and Torque squeezed back, telling her that it was going to be okay. 

Travesty finally backed off afterwards, still not letting go of Harker’s gaze until she reached Lexus again. The two of them then left the room, with Lexus looking back over her shoulder, almost apologetically to everyone else for Travesty’s outburst, but they all knew it wasn’t her fault, and it wasn’t Travesty’s fault either. Sooner or later both issues had needed to be addressed, and really they had just killed two birds with one stone. Could it have gone better? Absolutely. 

Shelby and Mirage talked amongst each other as Vic rejoined Caliper and Savvy. Torque and Harker left, still holding hands, but Harker was leading the way, probably wanting to get somewhere private where the two of them could talk things out without giving away how upset Harker was about the fight, since Travesty did have a few good points about their reality. 

Soon enough, Mirage and Shelby took a couple of bottles of rotgut, leaving the remaining three War Girls alone like they had been, with Savvy’s migraine even worse than before. However, that didn’t stop her from cuddling up to Vic as Caliper got on the other side of her, letting her lean against her chest. Vic was drained, Savvy was hurting, and Caliper was trying not to let Vic and Travesty’s actions get to her personally. It was a time to suffer in each other’s company without letting each other know. The three of them soon fell asleep in each other’s arms and didn’t wake up until Savvy started dry heaving, creating a need to leave the room and get back to the bunks before Savvy’s energy was completely zapped. All but one candle had fizzled out by this time, and in its weak and dying light, it witnessed the three War Girls pack up and leave just before its flame went out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now I'm off to do homework and work more on Viper's portrait u.u I'm sort of getting back on schedule with this fic, aye


	23. Something She Said

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viper opens up to someone new, yet keeps herself a safe distance away just in case.

Black eyes were never fun, and it would be awhile until it went away. The swelling was awful and she was slowly losing vision in the one eye, making depth perception kind of hard to figure out, but the ice at least was slowing and hopefully would keep the swelling from getting any worse than it already was. Tomorrow, or maybe later in the day, she would find an eyepatch to wear. The War Boys she hung around with frequently would probably have heard about the fight so not many questions would be asked about it. Hopefully. Either way, she knew she was going to be getting a lot of questions regarding her loss to Ulrich. 

Viper finally made it to the bunking quarters and squinted into the dim room where hundreds of bodies were lounging around, either snoring or doing other stuff. The pain killers were starting to kick in, or at least she thought they were. She cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders, prepping for the search, then wandered around, going further in than she normally did trying to locate Ulrich. After asking about, she found him, lounging in his bunk with someone that appeared to be his...oh great. 

She didn’t know why she had assumed that he didn’t have a lancer, but there he was, laying next to Ulrich with his back to the outside, making him unidentifiable. Ulrich seemed to be sleeping, or at least resting his eyes. The rag he had been using earlier was laying over his nose, bloodier and darker than before. From the wet blood still slowly flowing down the side of face, she was worried that she did more than just break his nose. They were about waist level on her, making them the second bunk from the ground, so she elbowed him, whispering his name, a little urgent. Ulrich waved his arm lazily, opening one unfocused eye at her and mumbled something along the lines of leaving him alone. Viper smirked. With him in this state, it would not be that easy, at least not without her feeling a little guilty. 

“Alright then, Ricky dear, if ye don’t want me help, then that’s fine. I have another lad that I want to see tonight, and I don’ want tae keep ‘im waitin’.”

“Huh?” Ulrich eyes snapped opened and he sat up too fast, red spots dancing around his vision leaving him light headed. He laid back down again carefully, a hand going over his forehead and covering his eyes. He was grimacing, in pain, and let out a groan loud enough to wake his partner. The unidentified War Boy, rolled over slightly, but what little light that was available didn’t reach his face, so Viper still could not tell who he was still.

“Is that Luc?” the voice was hopeful and groggy. 

“Nah, mate, it’s that War Girl I told ya about. Viper.”

“Oh.” Disappointment. “You off then?” 

“Looks like it,” Ulrich looked up at Viper from underneath his hand, an eyebrow raised and his body language was telling her that he was still apprehensive about this and she didn’t blame him. She gave him a gentle smile and nodded, backing up a bit so that he could climb out from the bunk. “See ya later, mate. Luc can stay if he comes by later, I got another buddy I can bunk with.”

“Ah, thanks mate. Tomorrow we got patrol, don’t forget,” The other War Boy went back to his original position and made himself comfy again.

“Righto. Okay, Miss Viper, I’m ready when you are,” Ulrich grinned and scooted out, keeping the rag to his nose when he realized his bloody nose was still going. 

The War Girl cocked her head to the side, amused. “Miss Viper?”

“I dunno, I just heard you can use Miss in front of a name and I figured it fit you,” Shrugging, Ulrich followed Viper’s lead, sticking close to her. It was kind of endearing to her, and she couldn’t stop the smile that was dancing on the edge of her lips no matter how hard she tried to keep it back. 

“You’re really trying your best to not make me second guess you, aren’t you.”

“No?”

“Don’t worry, Ulrich, there’s still time to mess up. Might make this easier for both of us.”

“I dunno what you’re talking about, but it sounds awfully like you’re accusing me of something I haven’t done.”

Viper could hear the frown and confusion in his voice, prompting her to shake her head, not really wanting to explain to him. “And ye don’t need tae. Come on, let’s get patched up. I know just the place.” 

They walked and walked and walked, side by side, not talking to each other, and the nervousness Ulrich was feeling was starting to build up with every passing second. Viper could feel it radiating off of him and it fed her, giving her confidence that he really did not have any hidden motives, and it reassured her that she was in control, making the situation easier and more pleasant to deal with. Despite what the terms had been during the fight, Ulrich didn’t seem to be all that interested in actually following through with taking advantage of them. 

When she found the small opening that she and Duncan went through to spend time together, she slipped down halfway, then grabbed Ulrich’s hand and pulled him down a little too rough as he lost his footing, falling to his knees. It didn’t seem to bother him too much, although he did look a tad bit concerned about where she was off to. She blamed her lack of depth perception for being a little rough with him, but she also needed to tell him something important now that she had been exposed to the night air.

“Follow me, but be wary. The winds are high tonight, do not, I repeat, Ulrich, do not go too close to the edge,” Viper warned in her clear voice, almost hissing. The War Boy nodded, intrigued and slightly frightened. He had never gone out of a vent before, simply because it just wasn’t something normally done, but it caught his interest. Viper gave him one last firm look before disappearing completely from his sight. 

The War Girl leaned against the rocky exterior, arms folded across her chest mostly to keep warm. She quickly glanced down at Ulrich to make sure that he didn’t hurt himself further, then returned her gaze back up to the sky. Despite how much pollution there was in the atmosphere, without all the lights of the old world, viewing the stars and the moon were easier to do. Normally she would be doing this with Duncan, but she would be visiting him later in the night. Right now, she just wanted to go to a familiar place to be alone with someone else, someone new. 

“Woah.”

The look on Ulrich’s face was pure wonder and it just gave her another reason to find him endearing. She might have just found someone worthy of partnering up with, but she still needed to gauge the rest of his abilities before making a final decision. He was slow to rise back up, too captivated by the landscape to really do anything else but stare. 

“The top is nice tae look out from, but I find at this height, just a fourth below, is more satisfyin’, wouldn’t ye agree?”

Ulrich nodded and slumped down to the ground, shoulders hunched over, legs spread out in front of him, the rag still keeping the blood from going everywhere.

Feeling bad, Viper pulled out a clean cloth, and knelt down slightly over him, taking his chin in her free hand and turned him towards her. She examined him and removing the old bloody cloth, and it made her wonder if he had a concussion or not since she had slammed her head into his pretty hard both times. Luckily, she had only broken his nose, possibly in two places. Pressing a fresh, clean cloth that she had on her to Ulrich’s nose gingerly, she pinched the bridge and put it back into alignment, then had him tilt his head back just a bit to keep the bleeding to a minimum.

“If ye feel like throwin’ up, please do so over the ledge.”

“Eh, I think I’ll be okay. I haven’t swallowed that much blood, I don’t think.”

“Blow yer nose in a few moments, see if the clot comes out.”

“Right,” Ulrich cleared his throat and Viper turned her focus to herself, taking out a canteen full of aqua cola, drinking it thoughtfully. She didn’t really want to tend to herself any more than she already had, although she would have Ulrich clean off any blood on her face so that she didn’t scare Niles too much later on. Suddenly, a thought entered her mind and she felt like it was a good time to ask since they had their privacy. She scooted closer to him to the point that their shoulders were touching.

“So, tell me Ulrich. Why did ye tell me that you weren’t interested in ruttin’, as ye say. First thing out of yer mouth almost when I asked what you wanted to do, an’ ‘m curious as tae why that was.”

Ulrich snorted and then shook his head as a smile of embarrassment crossed his face. “I just heard that it’s expected when it comes to breeders, is all. Lots of me mates go to the brothels when they have an itch, but those girls aren’t breeders. Least I don't think they are. I dunno, I just wanted to put it out there that rutting isn’t actually my thing.”

Viper frowned, but couldn’t really blame him. She didn’t think that she or the others would ever get away from that word no matter how hard they tried. “We are not breeders. And neither are the current Wives. We, they and us, have been reduced to one thing out here: to produce a child. An’ even then, Ulrich, when ye do, ‘s not up to you to decide about what happens to it. We then become Mothers, yes, but for everyone. Milk, an essential of our society is valued at a high cost. The others an’ I? When becoming a Milking Mother wasn’t an option, we became soldiers. Everyone has a use.”

The War Boy was quiet. He looked like he was trying to phrase something carefully so that he didn’t offend her, and she liked the effort, she really did, but it was just something that bothered her slightly. “I remember...someone mentioned that you were His favorite. What was it like?”

“Aye, ‘s true. It is something that haunts me, and will haunt me for a long time,” Viper sighed. She should have known that her past would be brought up as rumors of her story circulated about, exaggerated over time. It angered her to no end. “I dunno what is bein’ said about me now, but mark me words, Ulrich. He is not what he seems.”

“He has given us everything and He will welcome us at the gates of Valhalla where we shall ride eternal! He is what He says He is! A God,” Ulrich was a little defensive, looking down at her and moving away, but Viper picked up a slight sense of unsureness in his voice, causing her to smirk at him. She looked over him carefully for what seemed like the fiftieth time since meeting, noting his every move. While he was graceful and menacing and confident in the ring, outside of it? He still wasn’t a pushover but he didn’t exactly seem like he knew what he was doing.

“You were not raised here, were you Ulrich.”

He looked taken aback by that, eyes widening and then they narrowed. “What makes you think that I was not raised here?”

“Wanna know how I know? ‘Cause yer attitude towards him is one of assimilation. Tell me, Ulrich. How long have you been in the Citadel?”

The War Boy fell silent and returned his gaze out to the wasteland taking a huge breath. The wind picked up speed and the temperature was dropping rapidly. They huddled together for warmth, but still Ulrich refused to speak. Viper’s mind wandered, imaging all sorts of places Ulrich had been and had come from. She knew most of the War Boys in the Citadel and their stories, but she did not know his. She told herself that she couldn’t care less, but eventually she may get it out of him yet. 

“Want to know why I fell from his grace?” She kept her voice low, hoping her words would be carried away with the wind, to be ripped to shreds and forgotten, but he seemed to have heard as he peered down at her again, nodding. A stubborn one he was then when he made up his mind. 

“The Immortan is looking for a heir. When he passes from this plane of existence, someone will need to take his place. I gave him such a child. A healthy lad, but he was rejected. Not the image he wants for the Citadel. Not perfection, no, not in his eyes. After my son’s successful birth, I also gave him confidence that it was not him who was incompetent. It was us. He thought that his faithful and loving Wives were keeping his heir from him and I had proved him right.

“My son. He is the heir to the Citadel and heir to the Immortan’s throne. He knows this and yet he still denies my son’s future.”

The War Boy shifted slightly, trying to decide if he wanted to continue being silent or not. His curiosity got the better of him and he broke his silence. “How do you know?”

Viper thought for a moment, not sure how to word it. She had her own suspicions, but talking to others about it always seemed petty to her. “He is simply not good enough. Not the right image. Not what he would consider to be worthy. But he is worthy enough to be protected. My son will not be a War Boy. I never wanted him to be one, and I got my wish.”

“If you were his favorite, why would he reject you and his heir after all of this?”

“Because another came along an' she was more perfect than I. A fiery woman, full of pride and peace, yet she has a fightin' spirit. I was cold and aloof, apathetic even, playin' my role because I knew that was what I had tae do. What I needed tae do tae survive. She has no problems with expressin' her true feelin's, an' thus found 'erself under 'is watchful and 'orrible gaze. She took my place, my throne, and my kingdom.”

“Your kingdom?” Ulrich asked skeptically, even laughing at such an idea. “Only Immortan Joe owns this land.”

She whipped her head to him, serious and unyielding in her speech. “Aye. I let myself believe that we were truly man an' wife. A truly grotesque an’ despicable thought. ‘cept I ‘elped build this empire. I am partially responsible fer our expansion, our allies. The way our bartering system works. I gave ‘im advice when ‘e sought it, and sought it often ‘e did. An’ I cannae say that I am sorry. Only repulsed," Viper made sure that they kept eye contact, knowing that it was imperative that he know how she felt towards the Immortan and how she felt in general with where she was now. "We are outsiders an' will truly never fit in, no matter ‘ow hard we try, Ulrich. Remember that, aye?” 

There was nothing more to say and Ulrich certainly didn’t know how to react. Viper stood up and left him there to ponder in his thoughts, not telling him where she was going or if she was coming back. Since the temperature kept dropping, he knew it would be wise to return to the bunks, where he found his lancer with another driver. As much as their close friendship annoyed Ulrich, he sensed an opportunity. If she would have him, Ulrich would be willing to replace Magnus with Miss Viper. Like she said, they were outsiders, and as try as he might, tight bonds between him and his brothers were almost non existent. He found one of his buddies and shoved them over, giving a quick explanation as to why he was there and then struggled to get to sleep that night, the fight from earlier still replaying in his head and he could still see her piercing eyes (or rather, eye) and hear her biting words echoing in the back of his mind. 

“Yer attitude towards him is one of assimilation.”

“He is not what he seems.”

“ We are outsiders...Remember that, aye?”

Needless to say, it was a rough night, with lots of tossing and turning, kicking and fighting with his friend, his feelings becoming scrambled and irrational. This War Girl, Viper. He needed to know more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like how I thought I had all of this free time and yet. Everything got filled up with Adult™ responsibilities, aka I have PT again and also I leave homework to the last minute, so that's been piling up, hhhhh. Anyways, next chapter should be up by Wednesday, the skeleton has been writtten, just need to add details.


	24. Conspiring Conversations and Gnarly Googles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Torque and Harker talk about current events and plan for the near future.

Harker led Torque through the tunnel system at a moderate speed, keeping in mind of her sister’s disability while also getting to her desired destination as soon as possible. To her credit, Torque didn’t complain, even when the bumps began to chew, warning her to not push herself further. As much as she wanted to listen, Harker needed her and that was enough for her to ignore the pain and keep pace with her, breathing as evenly as she could. They passed by several War Boys and Imperators, but Harker just shoved past them without uttering a single word or showing respect to the Imperators, and while that was kind of cool to Torque, it also began to worry her since she was having a hard time figuring out Harker was currently feeling or thinking and she wasn’t used to that.

Soon as they rounded the corner to Torque’s workstation, Harker hurried her twin inside, then suspiciously looked around, incredibly wary of anyone creeping around, however she knew for certain that Travesty wasn’t going to be going anywhere near them anytime soon. At least she hoped not, she was getting rather frustrated and irritated about Travesty seemingly following her every move now a days. Maybe it was just that she wasn’t used to someone other than Torque giving a shit, but she would rather just think that Travesty was just trying to restrict her movements and keep her from being free in her own eyes. Freedom was the ability to decide what the fuck she wanted to do and anyone who thought otherwise could bugger off. So yeah, the pregnancy scares were awful and yeah, maybe sometimes she felt like she needed to please someone rather than want to, but if she offered, no one could take from her. Not anymore.

“Harker, I think we’re safe, mate,” Torque grabbed her sister’s shoulder and made her face her. She could see the fire in her eyes, flames burning bright in anger, but she knew it was bound to fizzle out as soon as she was able to express herself fully. Something wasn’t right and she knew that Travesty was the root cause of it. If anything, the little tiff that they had probably set off some insecurities that Harker never really felt comfortable mentioning, and that only made Torque worry even more about how reckless Harker might become in the next few days in order to deal, especially since she knew of Luc now.

“I know that, Tori, I’m just checking my blind spots,” she shook Torque’s hand off of her and then took one last glance right before facing Torque again. “Gotta be extra sure, don’t want anymore un-welcomed opinions of me getting around.”

“Ah, so that’s what this is about,” Torque nodded solemnly, feeling relieved that she was right about something. She crossed her arms and leaned against the dirty and oily table that was still pretty messy with tools haphazardly strewn about. It hit her then that this was a pretty good place to be for them to talk as both of them felt the most comfortable here where they knew they were away from other people for the most part, and there was always something to defend themselves with. Not to mention it meant that Harker could climb up into the rafters and get comfy in the ropes and wires, letting her think clearly as she knew that Torque was not one to rush her as she gathered her thoughts up. 

Once her twin was up high enough and in the same place that she had been several weeks ago when their first bet took place (that she broke), Torque felt like it was a good time to keep herself busy by cleaning and organizing the table as Harker rambled on and let everything that she needed to let out, well, out. It wasn’t long before Torque’s hands were solid black from the oil again, with most tools back in their proper place all shiny and chrome after getting a good rub down when Harker finally hit her in the head with a washer. Where ever Harker was getting these things, it was both a good thing and a bad thing, Torque thought as she rubbed the back of her head and glared up at her sister.

“Torque, hear me out okay, I really need you to listen to me about this, I’m serious. This is more than just about a Boy, I need you to listen. Please?” Her tone was pleading, not quite desperate, but still longing for someone to understand.

Torque rubbed her eyes, ignoring how bad of an idea that had been, and slumped against the table, ready to listen to whatever it was that Harker wanted to rant about. “Fine. I feel like I should be drunk for this though.”

“Nah, honestly mate, I need you sober. Look, I know I treated you badly during the first few months, but I’m here for ya now and that ain’t changin’, not a single bit. Swears it, Torque.”

“Okay, out with it then before I change me mind,” Torque fumbled through her pockets, taking out her goggles and getting annoyed at the lack of something important. Fuck, she didn’t have any more clean rags. “You got a clean one on ya?”

The disgruntled twin just took off her scarf and threw it down in Torque’s general direction. “Thank you so much, Tor, that means a lot, okay? Alright, here’s the thing. Travesty has a huge point, I kind of...well. Haven’t really been going out of my way to stay safe, but I have needs and-”

“Okay, yeh, you have needs, I know that,” polishing the lenses, that’s all she really needed to focus on right now if she wanted to avoid another disagreement. She could hear Harker starting to swing around up above her. “We all know that.”

“Of course as we all say as well, ‘fuck War Boys’ and I may be a tad too enthusiastic ‘bout that-”

“Makes you a bloody piker, is what that makes you,” her twin accused, pointing a finger dramatically in her direction, then returned her attention back to her goggles. Huh, how did she see anything out of these to begin with? 

“But Luc was kind of an eyeopener-”

“You’re in love already, aren’t ya?” Torque snickered and looked up again just in time to duck and avoid another small object being thrown down her way.

“Will ya let me speak, for V8’s sake, Tori.”

“V8’s a fucking sham, and we both know that-”

“TORI,” Harker smacked a hand against her forehead and let out a frustrated groan, but Torque could tell that she wasn’t actually that annoyed with her. Yet. “Come on!”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry. But only a little bit, I gotta be honest with ya,” Torque stopped everything that she was doing altogether and looked up at Harker, who was now peering down at her with interest. “I mean, you’re my younger sister, Harker, I gotta protect ya. I pushed you away for so long, and it’s taken us all this time to get this close. If you get knocked up, who am I gonna bother on a regular basis when you’re stuck up near Old Joe with yer tits hooked up?”

“Ew, I really could have gone through life without that image, thanks,” Harker’s face contorted, repulsed at first but then burst out laughing, prompting Torque to laugh along with her. They weren’t laughing because it was funny (although it sort of was), but they laughed because the truth was too grim. 

When the laughter subsided into disheartened loud sighs, Harker came down slowly, not in the mood to show off, because what was the point? She slumped down next to Torque, leaning against her. She took her twin’s goggles and sort of clean rag and went over the areas that Torque had trouble getting or missed. How did she see anything out of these to begin with? How did Torque see anything at all, honestly, her sight was shit sometimes. At least she as a driver, her lancing wasn’t quite as accurate because of her slight sight problem.

“You know, as a half-life, you should probably go out and do something stupid too.”

“Why?” The idea made Torque move away in distrust and discomfort. It was a little strange for Harker to bring this up now, but she guessed that to some degree she was right. Toque was way more reserved than her sister, although she had been coming out of her shell easier, especially when by her side. 

“Just sayin’ that you need to get you laid, is all. Swap some paint with a War Boy every now and then.”

“Harker!” the shove she gave wasn’t hard enough to her liking, so she did it again when her sister tried to get up, giggling and with a shit eating grin on her stupid fucking face. “You gotta be kiddin’ me, mate. I ain’t doin’ nothin’ like that!”

“I’m just sayin’, Tor! At least give yer li’l crush a peck on the cheek. Make me proud of you and yer efforts!”

“Nah, I ain’t goin’ anywhere near him, ‘m fine with admiring him from far away.”

“If ya say so, sis.”

“I know so.”

“Fine, but you gotta do somethin’ exciting before, ya know…and you never took on my dare.”

“I know,” Torque subconsciously rubbed the bumps before noticing what she was doing. “I know.”

The rag was thrown down with force as Harker gave up on rubbing away the grime on her sister’s goggles and out of frustration. “There’s gotta be some way that you can get rid of those things. If we can talk to Organic-”

“Nooooo, no, no, no, definitely not. I really, really, don’t want to go near him, he’s disgusting and gross and vile and looks at us so oddly whenever we need his assistance. No, talking to Organic would kill me in itself.”

“Well then I guess it’s a damn good thing that I know Luc then and that we’re pretty much best pals already, if I do say so myself-”

“You’ve known him for maybe less than a full day.”

“-I can probably get him to talk to Organic about it. ‘m sure there’s a way, surgery is a thing, it shouldn’t be too hard to remove bumps. And ‘s not really all that fair to say that Organic is gross, Tori, when was the last time we had a proper bath and our breath smelled nice and fresh, hm?”

Torque thought for a moment, but didn’t want to get her hopes up. If she did end up needing to go to the Blood Shed for transfusions, then it wouldn’t be long before her cancer consumed her, as observed with War Boys with her condition as well. Assuming that there was an unwilling blood donor that matched up with her. It would the worst way to go in her opinion. Being raised in Gastown really made it difficult to want to go out in any sort of way other than something historic, especially now that she was a War Girl, and dying on the Fury Road, chasing down Buzzards or fighting enemies was what really made her feel like she had a purpose sometimes.

“If you can get an answer, and I don’t mean a ‘sort of answer’, I mean a real, solid answer, about experimentation or whatever, then I’ll...think about participatin’.”

“I will. You are not dyin’ without fightin’, okay?”

“Heh, okay.”

“Now, these goggles of yours...they’re complete shit, trade them for something better.”

“Like anyone would want these things for anything,” Torque grabbed them out of Harker’s hands, a little offended that her goggles were insulted by someone other than her. They were okay, just dirty, maybe hindering her vision just a little bit, but only just a little bit. “I don’t have anything else that I would wanna trade.”

“Aha! But tomorrow is the new bet, see? We win and you gain other stuff to barter with. If you play it right, you might be able to get some glasses, or at least yer own personal magnifying glass,” Harker nodded at her own clever thoughts as if it would convince Torque as well. Which it sort of did. “Besides, chance run ins are bound to happen, so I might just slip you something along the way. We’re winning this one for sure, swears it! Travesty will be kissin' our arses soon.”

“That’s exactly what you said last time and look what happened!”

“But wasn’t what I told you that I needed to tell you at the time worth it?”

…Yeah, it kind of had been, Torque thought as she nodded to confirm, hesitantly. The twins got up and argued about whether or not it was worth heading to the bunks, with one saying that it was a little too early to retire and the other saying that she needed to rest. Because they would be separated the next day, the latter gave in, scolding her sister that it wasn’t nice to deprive her of sleep, but ultimately time with her awake was definitely more important. 

“And remember, it’s only gonna be for 24 hours, we’ve tried it once, it shouldn’t be that terrible to repeat. But I can’t help it if I accidentally bump into you, the Citadel is huge, but not that huge.”

“Right on that, you are. Come on, let’s see if we can visit Uncle Niles or go bother Shelby and Mirage. If not, then bed it is then.”

“You are such a buzzkill.”

“Yeah, a Buzzkill-er!”

“…You’re actually awful, that was terrible.”

“I know that, Harker, I know.”

"It was kind of good though."

"Thanks."

"Kind of."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be focusing on other characters, I swear omg
> 
> anyways, next chapter should be done by saturday, but I may spend my entire weekend watching Deadpool so..............


	25. It's Not Getting Any Better

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Relationships weaken, bonds questioned, and the latest bride arrives at the Citadel, giving Vic an excuse to escape for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title again is a song by Innerpartysystem. I swear that I'm not trying to promote them...too much.

Months went by and many things amongst the Citadel and the War Girls had changed. Many things. Viper was around the others less and less, working hard at rising up the ranks, and she was making excellent progress. Nothing could stop her from her goal to being able to feel like she could keep those she wanted to keep safe, safe. In a couple more months, or maybe even weeks, she would be an Imperator for sure, but her mind had been all over the place as Duncan got older and her relationship with Ulrich strengthened, especially after they became partners when his lancer finally was able to switch and pair up with Luc, a battle that Harker had been a part of briefly. Viper still tried to spend time with her sisters as much as she could, but she was just concerned about her and her son’s future. 

That had been understandable, and while the other War Girls that were attempting to become Imperators too strived to be as on track as Viper was, some of the tasks they had been given to do made them cringe and rethink their tactics. Travesty had been the only one to accept and complete a mission to raid a small group of people that had encroached onto the Immortan’s territory, most of them being women. It had been hard and she felt absolutely guilty for doing it, but if this was what was going to get them closer to freeing themselves and the Wives, then so be it. But it also meant that only two of them would be up high enough to convince Furiosa that the Green Place did exist and to try another escape attempt. Numbers were important if they wanted to make sure that their tracks could be covered, or at the very least give Furiosa a head start. Travesty had been met with mixed feelings when she told the others about what had happened, most of them negative. She and Vic fought a lot after about it, separating them more and dividing the Girls further. Mirage and Lexus stuck by Travesty’s side, but Shelby had sided with Vic and her crew, which only created tension between her and Mirage. 

Harker and Torque kept trying to win the stupid bets that kept being placed on them and they kept losing, until finally the bets had stopped all together after Torque had a very terrifying day that included her fainting and Harker somehow sensing that something had gone wrong with her sister. Torque had just been with Vic, Savvy, and Caliper as they worked on machinery. One moment she had been chatting with them, the next she muttered something about not feeling good and had collapsed, unresponsive to the others as they attempted to revive her. Not five minutes later had passed when Harker came sprinting towards them from lancing practice, tears streaming down her face once she saw her twin on the ground, eyes closed, chest not moving. She had screamed at the others to get away and immediately started CPR while the three Girls just stood there, feeling useless until Caliper offered to run and get one of Organic’s assistants. Harker just glared up at her and that was that. By the time Caliper had returned with a War Boy equipped with some old medical tools, Torque had finally come to. She was still having some trouble breathing and all she could really get out was that the bumps were biting too hard for her to be comfortable with. She had been too weak to walk to the Blood Shed so the War Boy that Caliper arrived with carried her there, ignoring Harker’s complaints about how he was treating her, from what position he was carrying her in (what if it only worsens her breathing?) to accusing him of jostling her too much (he was, but after doing this for so long with other War Boys, did it really matter when over half of the time they died not long after they were finally hooked up? No. When asked later, Torque had just been grateful that she was getting help). 

Everything was a mess after that. Torque was at the point where she needed a donor. She was running on empty about two days a week and Harker was too distraught to really care about anything other than checking on her sister and sticking close by her side, even if it was a different kind of suffocating for Torque who was absolutely miserable from the constant attention and affection from the others. To her, it was only a reminder that her life was slipping away day by day, bit by bit. She tried to tell the others how she felt about it, but was quickly shushed. She became more closed off again, only speaking when she was asked a question or if she needed to go take a piss or something. It worried them all, but it never occurred to them that the misery she felt was caused by them. 

Then the problems between Shelby and Mirage grew worse, raising questions with the others. Shelby was appalled that Mirage could support Travesty and Viper. She felt like she had been right to disagree at first and that Mirage was just as responsible for anything that Travesty and Viper had taken part in. Mirage on the other hand knew what Travesty had sacrificed in order prove herself to the higher ups. That she had to put her own personal beliefs aside and remain insensitive to the treatment of the women. Ignore their pleas and questions, their insults and wails. She was doing this for all of them and what Travesty had to do was to be expected. Shelby only followed up with the fact that she would soon be an Imperator too since she was an incredible Green Thumb and their produce and food supply had increased greatly since she joined them. She exhibited good leadership skills, was a full life, and that should be the way to go. Since no one could really respond other than the fact that none of them were that great at taking care of plants and also did not an Imperator admiring them, Shelby felt confident that she had the upper hand and that the others could figure something else out too. 

With everyone on edge with each other, it was time to try and rebuild relationships and friendships. Vic and Travesty had had meetings. Neither one of them would say how the meetings turned out, but from their behavior and appearance after some of them, the meetings had either been friendly or full on fighting. Or...something. Soon enough the meetings stopped all together and Vic and Travesty only spoke to each other when they needed to, mostly with Travesty reporting her status and anything that Vic demanded to know. The last time she reported to her former lover, Travesty was very vague about what was going on and said that she might not be back for a couple of days. She was to be part of a scouting party with Viper and that they would be traveling for anything new that they could find. She even hinted that this would be both of their chances at advancing if they followed orders and let whatever happened, happen. Vic dismissed her without a word. She had a feeling what was about to occur. She had been on the receiving end of one of these scouting parties and she knew that both Travesty and Viper had been victims too. It had been too upsetting to think about further and Vic avoided them both when they returned.

__________

Immortan Joe had taken a new Wife. She was young, maybe just under 4,500 days and she was scared, but mostly interested in her new husband and new environment. As a result of his new bride, he had invited the heads of Gastown and Bulletfarm as well as the Gastown Boys and Bullet Boys from their respective residences to celebrate the wedding. That meant a feast that would last for several days and the Wife was to be put on display for all to admire her beauty, and most importantly, for people to bless her with the gift of bringing Joe a healthy son when the time came. Her arrival meant that the Immortan now had five wives in total. It was sure to rise if she did not follow through. 

These kinds of days only brought misery to the War Girls as they were reminded of their time with Immortan Joe from the very beginning. Nothing could prepare them for what lay ahead of them in the godforsaken vault. Despite how many of them were together at a time in that room, it was too cramped and too spacious, all at the same time. And it was even sickening to most of them to know how the new Wife had been discovered. Viper and Travesty had been trying to make amends with the others, but only Lexus and Mirage really felt comfortable being around them anymore. It was heartbreaking to know that any of them would be capable of doing such a thing, so the four of them were rarely welcomed to any group activities anymore. 

On this day, Vic took Caliper, Savvy, and the twins out for a ride. She needed to get away from the Citadel as far as she could, so she gave the excuse that the five of them were going to go scavenging and do some patrolling in case anyone took the opportunity to attack the three territories. It was highly probable as Immortan Joe was not known for being modest and practically broadcasted the news to everyone. Besides, if the multitude of vehicles leaving their towns wasn’t evidence enough of something big happening at the Citadel, then nothing would be.

They were given the clearance, although a couple of War Boys were to go on patrol with them, too. Unfortunately, none of the Boys assigned were ones that any of them recognized, but no one said that they all had to stick together. Besides, if any of the Boys wanted to trail after them if they were curious, Caliper, Vic, and Savvy would personally send them on their way to Hel, and the Boys knew that. The twins would watch and shout obscenities and maybe throw some rocks, but...if it wasn’t really their fight why bother. Besides, someone had to watch the cars, right?

The parties headed out, Vic’s crew leading the way. Not only did the War Girls plan to patrol, they planned to continue their seemingly never ending quest to find Savvy’s clan of survivors that she swore were still out there somewhere. Obviously not in the immediate area, but they were out there. A small group of people had stumbled upon the Citadel and felt like it was a good opportunity to try and trade for supplies. After that Savvy never talked about it. There was one Wretched that she knew, but he was gone now, so any immediate ties to the clan were broken. 

“We should head south east this time,” Savvy said as they roamed the landscape. It was early in the day and the sun was just peeking over the sand dunes. “Go until the rocks turn stark white and then turn south completely. If we can’t find anything by the time the sun is about to set, we’ll head home.”

“Sounds good,” Vic agreed and she gave the signal for the parties to split up. Soon as they were free from the War Boys, they all headed to the place Savvy gave directions to. They had gone this way many times before, but each route was different at a different landmark. This time would be their second time to go by the white rocks and their first to go south. This would lead to what was at one point called the ocean. Certainly there was still some water out there holding different forms of life, but even Miss Giddy didn’t know for sure, despite her great abundance of knowledge and wisdom. She blamed it on being cooped up for so long in the vault with them. When the Girls got to where the floor dropped dangerously, they decided it was best to leave the vehicle behind with Caliper and travel on foot. It had taken a couple of hours but it was sure to be worth it.

“How could anyone live down there? There doesn’t seem to be anything worthy of camping in.”

“And what exactly do you know about camping, Harker?”

As usual, the twins kept themselves busy by talking to each other. It helped them calm down, and boy, this place was actually frightening. There were scattered bones everywhere, some small, some rather large. Rib cages mostly. It was hard to identify what was what, but they could tell the largest rib cages that poked out of the ground here and there were definitely a whale of some sort. It was incredible to think that creatures of such size once existed, maybe even still existed somewhere out there.

The Girls reached the edge of the mountains that dipped down into the valley of carcasses. Vic looked down and found a spot where it would be easy to climb up and down from and led them to it carefully, wary of slipping or one of them accidentally falling. A look of hope appeared on Savvy’s face for a moment before returning to depressed as it appeared that the pathway was worn away, but didn’t seem like it had been used in a while. Some people must be settled around here at some point at the very least.

As they all climbed down, Torque and Harker continued their banter.

“I dunno much, but I sure as hell wouldn’t stay out here. Swears it. Too much death here.”

“And that sounds like a good thing. Who would bother you out here?”

“A fair point, but it’s really isolated at the least, Tori. And where would you get water from around here? Kind of bleak and devoid of anything useful.”

“I dunno Harker,” Torque huffed. “You’re certainly not being useful right now.”

“How about both of you be useful and scout the area up ahead,” Vic interjected. She was getting a headache and while she knew the twins were just bickering as usual, and it was a welcome change since Torque seemed to be feeling better lately and returning to her old self, it was beginning to really get to her for some reason. 

“Why us?” Harker whined. Torque just groaned, slumping her shoulders.

“Because you two have each other’s backs better than we do, and you’re both small enough to fit into any spaces that might be in there. Your bond makes it easier for you two to be in sync with each other and when you two know danger, you make sure the rest of us know. Especially you, Harker. You could be halfway around the world and I would know it was you if you screamed,” Vic explained, trying not to be impatient with the girls. 

“I can go with you if you want,” Savvy added, scanning the rocks for anything she thought would be a good place for them to start. 

“No offense, Savvy-”

“Good, now get going. See that opening over there?” Savvy was grateful the girls didn’t want her to go with them as she was barely able to keep her heart rate down. She sensed that there was something here, and while she didn’t want to get her hopes up too high, she was certain that they were going to stumble upon something big.

“Yeah,” the twins responded.

“Start there. Report anything you find, then go on to whatever else catches your eye. We’ll keep watch for anything else from up here.”

“Okay.”

“Whatever ya say, Savs,” Harker gave an exaggerated salute.

And with that, the twins descended down into the flat valley of the canyon, helping each other out. Or mostly it was Harker helping Torque out as she wasn’t as confident in her agility as her sister was, and Harker was still worried that being out here was too risky for Torque no matter how many times she had reassured her that she was going to be fine. She hadn’t needed a blood donor for almost two weeks and was still feeling great. They walked in silence towards the cave opening and eyed each other. 

“You’re the older one. You go first,” Harker stepped aside, her arms indicating that Torque was free to enter.

“Only by 12 minutes! And no way, you can creep in easier and shorter than me, you go first!” Torque shoved Harker into the opening, but Harker held her ground, fighting back.

“Shorter than you, are ya mad? We’re literally the same height! 160 centimeters, the both of us!”

“You should still go first.”

“Tori, you gotta protect me!”

“But you’ve got the voice to let me know what’s in there!”

“And you’ve got the weapon to beat anything to death if anything’s there!”

“But you got a bloody knife sharp enough to slit anyone’s throats!”

They almost started punching each other when Vic called out to them to knock it off and they immediately pulled back. Torque sighed heavily and looked into the cave. It was so dark, she wasn’t sure how they would spot anything of importance, but they were here for Savvy, and ultimately for themselves. If Savvy reunited with her clan then the opportunity to leave the Citadel forever could be taken. As much as it also meant leaving her mother behind, it was still a good idea to never return. The punishments for attempted escapes were getting more severe. 

She felt a hand on her shoulder and Harker was beside her, silently adding support. Torque nodded and took her sister’s hand to hold it while they walked in together. 

They had to stop for a moment so their eyes could adjust but once they could see a couple of meters ahead of them, it appeared that the cave was pretty spacious and even seemed to be modeled after the Citadel tunnel system wise. They were both drawn to one door in particular though. It had been painted red from what little light was available.

“A red door,” Harker hesitated but walked over to it, touching it slightly. Some of the paint came off and fell to the floor, raising dust as it hit the ground. She drew back slightly, but then reached out to touch it again, seeing that not all of the paint was that willing to come off.

“Never did like the color red,” Torque felt a shiver go through her even though there was an absence of wind. 

“Blood red.”

Harker backed up from the door, reaching out to Torque for reassurance. Torque could tell Harker was about to back out all together and go back to report nothing of interest, but they needed to get this done. For Savvy. For all of them. So she started singing, softly. 

“Red,” it was something old, the first thing that came to her mind. 

“The color of angry men,” Harker absentmindedly sang.

“Black,” Torque joined Harker and they both pushed the door open, only seeing more darkness.

“The dark of ages past.”

“Red-a world about to dawn,” The twins sang in unison now, vaguely remembering something that Miss Giddy had taught them. Something about musicals, and something about France. This had always been their favorite part. “Black-the night that ends at last!”

They hummed the rest, forgetting the words, but the tunnel wasn’t that scary anymore, and lo and behold. About 300 or so meters in they came across another large room and there was a hole in the ceiling, letting bright light shine down on them. There was nothing special in particular about the room, but it was clear that at some point people lived here from hidden bowls, utensils, even old but shredded clothing.

“Think we should check the others before going back?” Harker asked.

“Nah. If this room is like this, then the rest must be the same way. ’s been abandoned, mate.”

A loud bang echoed in the tunnel and the girls screamed, grabbing a hold of each other and backing up against the wall, shrinking down into the shadows as far as they could.

“What the fuck was that?” Harker whispered, shaking violently. 

“I dunno and I don’t wanna find out, Har,” Torque tried to keep her voice calm to soothe them both, but it came out much higher than she would have liked. 

“You’ve still got your wrench, right?”

“Wouldn’t go anywhere without it, sis.”

“Great. I’ve got a knife in one of my millions of pockets, but I’m gonna need you to distract that thing while I find it.”

“Wait, why do I always gotta be the one to distract things for you?”

“‘Cause you’re bloody good at being distracting!”

Another loud bang echoed, this time sounding much closer. Whatever it was had a large metal type of weapon, which put the Twins at a great disadvantage if they couldn’t get close enough to attack whatever it was that was coming for them. 

Harker whimpered and buried her face in the crook of Torque’s shoulder while Torque tried her best to keep watch for anything. After all, it was her job to look after her younger sister and if anything happened to Harker, she would never be able to forgive herself. They sat in silence for the longest amount of time and the more time that went, the farther they crept into the shadows as the sun seemed to be eating up the darkness. 

“Do you think it’s gone?” Harker kept her voice low, still facing away from the entrance to the room.

“I dunno Har. I really don’t wanna find out, no offense.”

“How do we tell the others?”

“You’re the one with the loud voice!”

“But we both screamed and neither Vic nor Savvy are here!” 

Torque flung her hands in the air, not sure what to do now. Harker was right, there really was no way to tell the others about the possible danger.

“So what do we do, Tori?”

It took her a few moments, but she came up with the best thing she could out of the situation they were in. Slowly, she stood up, motioning for Harker to do the same. Leading the way, she took out her wrench, and held it in a defensive position, while her other arm cautioned Harker to stay back. This prompted Harker to start searching through her pockets for her knife. Next time, she thought, we’re bringing guns. They went back the way they came in, going as slow as they could so that they didn’t make a sound or rustle any dust that could potentially give away their location. 

Luckily, they didn’t run into anything, and as soon as they reached the door, Torque pulled Harker close to her.

“Okay, from here on out, we fang it. You ready?”

Harker nodded vigorously. 

“On the count of three. One...two…” Torque didn’t get to the three as they both burst through the door and ran out of the entrance to the cave as fast as they could. The two of them climbed back up to where Vic and Savvy were sitting and ran right past them, only thinking about getting back to the vehicle and getting their arses out of there as soon as possible.

“Wait! What happened in there?” Savvy yelled at them as the other two War Girls followed hurriedly in pursuit, disturbed by the twins’ reaction. “Was anyone in there?”

Torque and Harker didn’t stop, only helping each other get up to where Caliper was. She was still in the bed of of the truck, sleeping as it seemed. A great guard she is, Torque thought sarcastically. They climbed in with Caliper and yelled at Vic and Savvy to hurry up. 

With all the commotion going on suddenly, Caliper woke up, disgruntled, and wanted to tell the twins off for waking her, but it was clear something was extremely wrong. This was why she needed more sleep instead of staying up with Vic and Savvy late at night. 

“What happened!” Caliper jumped up, holding her hands up so that the twins would know she needed them to calm down and so that Vic and Savvy didn’t just get into the car and drive off without some sort of explanation. 

“There was something moving around in there!” Harker was practically bouncing, nervously laughing and wanting desperately to leave. She clung onto the bars that had been modded to the Mercury M250 so tight that her knuckles were turning white. 

“Something big!” Torque was panting, trying to catch her breath hoping the bumps would release their grip on her windpipe just enough so that she didn’t end up passing out. She did not want to ruin a good streak just because she ran away from danger. 

“Metallic sounding-”

“We screamed-”

“And no one showed up! Not a single one of you showed up!” Harker yelled, tears forming in her eyes. She was terrified beyond belief and every second they spent in this place was starting to cause her more anxiety and it was rubbing off on Torque. 

“We could have died!” They ended in unison. 

“Metallic sounding?” Savvy asked, taking a step forward.

“Yeah! You wanna find out for yerself? ‘Cause we ain’t leaving this vehicle, no way, we ain’t going back in there!” Harker protested.

“I will. Vic, you coming? Cali?” Savvy was off anyways. Vic ran after her, trying to get her to explain what was happening and Caliper went after Vic to try and calm the both of them down. 

Torque and Harker just watched in disbelief as the their fellow War Girls ran off. Savvy was running at a terrifying pace as she made her way down to the mouth of the cave, and the other two were shouting for her to come back and talk to them. 

“Did they just...?”

“Yeah…”

“What the fuck! What happened to together till the end?” 

“Doesn’t apply to us apparently,” Torque wanted to cry, she was just so frustrated and upset at the moment. They could have been attacked by something and the others couldn’t care less. She just let herself collapse onto the bed of the truck and curled up in a ball. “They left us.”

Harker screamed in annoyance and slumped down next to Torque. There was nothing they could do now, Vic always carried the keys on her. Not that they both had the same thought about leaving them, but…It seemed fitting now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter is a question mark, cos it's done, I just gotta modify it since I wrote it a long ass time ago. and i got lots of homework and deadpool and a small break B)


	26. Soft Touches, Bittersweet Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shelby and Mirage speak to each other without yelling for the first time in a while when Shelby is told to freshen up her war paint.

The sun was reaching its peak for the day, creating a sweltering heat that swept across the desert, carried by the wind that normally would have been welcomed on such days if it weren’t for the fact that the wind was almost the same temperature. With all the festivities going on, Shelby and Mirage had been working overtime in preparation for the feasts. They weren’t on good terms, but they weren’t on terrible terms either. They still bunked together, although Shelby was quiet and didn’t really reply to Mirage if she tried talking to her, but she still held her hand at times or wrapped an arm around Mirage while she slept, worried about any dreams she might get. So far Mirage had been doing fine it seemed, but she was becoming more distant and stared out over the edge of the top of the Citadel for long periods of time. Shelby could see that her mind was working on overdrive, but it never occurred to her that Mirage might do anything to harm herself, or worse. Travesty had been trying to reach out to Shelby and tell her that Mirage really needed her more than ever but since it was Travesty talking, Shelby just shut her out, refusing to listen to her anymore. She was doing the unspeakable, crimes that caused all of them to hate being there, yet she had no problems following through with it all. And why did it even matter? Travesty and Furiosa never really spoke as the lanky War Girl was too scared to be rejected or told that their home never existed and it would be pointless to do anything but keep up the status quo so that the Citadel ran smoothly. 

Running the back of her hand over her forehead to wipe off any sweat that had accumulated during the time she was skinning potatoes, Shelby looked up briefly to see Mirage hauling another load water buckets up, water that was intended for nourishment for both plants and the Green Thumbs busily doing their part to harvest greens that could be replaced quickly after the feasting was over with. They made eye contact then quickly looked away from each other, returning to their work. A feeling of uneasiness washed over her, causing her to look back at Mirage with worry. There was something about the look she had seen on her face briefly that didn’t seem right, but with the demand for the potatoes and other vegetables to be ready to go down to the canteen area soon, she wasn’t free to just get up and leave. Not that she should anyways. Mirage could take care of herself, Mirage supported someone who was responsible for all of this work and responsible for bringing in another innocent little girl who had no idea what was in store for her. She pursed her lips as she skinned the next batch of potatoes with quick and precise cuts, thinking of the horrid act of betrayal Mirage had done to her. To all of them. If she wasn’t sure about this the first time around, she definitely wasn’t sure of what to think about this moving up ranks business other than there was a way to go around participating in violent and cruel activities. Being healthy and staying healthy seemed to be the number one indicator, but since Torque was diseased, the thought of any of them being sick too didn’t seem plausible until they lived for a certain period of time without showing any signs. And she had to admit, no one was really keeping track of any potential diseases forming in any of them. 

A heavy presence came up behind her but she didn’t notice it right away, not until she was poked on the shoulder a couple of times by the Imperator overlooking all of the duties. It pulled her out of her thoughts so quickly that she started and almost dropped the last potato she had been in the middle of skinning. When she looked up to tell the person who interrupted her off, she immediately shut her mouth and bowed her head in respect. 

“Take a break. The war paint on your back is beginning to peel off and parts of your skin is getting burnt real bad, missy.”

She looked up, concerned as to why the Imperator thought that now was a good time for a break of any sorts. Not when there was still so much to do that she was to be in charge of, relatively. “Imperator, I need to finish up my assignments-”

“Nah, need ya in tip top shape this week. If I hear a single complaint from you later about how bad yer back hurts then we’re gonna have a problem.” the Imperator said firmly. Shelby nodded and got up, pocketing the knife she had been working with and sticking the half skinned potato into the basket of the War Boy next to her who frowned at her but didn’t say anything since the Imperator was right there. She stretched to get out any of the kinks out as her posture was slowly losing its stiff and properness as time progressed. Once back down in the Citadel tunnels, she made her way to get repainted, walking at a brisk pace so that her break didn’t end up being too long yet at the same time knowing that if she really wanted to go back to her job, she would be running to get all of this over with. She had grown more accustomed to her surroundings and was confident around the War Boys, not really understanding a lot of the fear that the others felt when they were by themselves around their male counterparts. However, she did feel the creeping suspicion of someone following her. She made a few turns here and there, but still the feeling persisted, and her uneasiness only grew. She looked over her shoulder several times but couldn’t spot anyone that looked like they were purposefully pursuing her. In an attempt to comfort herself, she brushed it off, keeping her head high and gaze forward until she finally reached her destination. It was rather quiet in the rooms where they painted themselves, and War Boys were mostly leaving instead of entering. She looked around but knew that she wasn’t going to find someone to do a touch up for her. With a huff, she began to prepare the mixture when yet again, a heavy presence came up behind her. 

“Need help?” a voice asked her, a little hoarse and unsure of itself, like the person the voice belonged to was in fight or flight mode depending upon her answer.

Shelby whipped around, on edge, but the feelings of dread and anxiousness quickly dissipated when she saw Mirage, arms crossed over her chest. Her body language was not defensive, but more scared and her eyes were shifting around, not really wanting to make eye contact. Like she was nervous about approaching Shelby, which would explain the reason she stuck to the shadows and kept a fair distance from her while she followed her partner. With a sigh and a quick nod of her head, Shelby handed her the mixture and began to undress her upper body, turning around before doing so just to make it clear that she wanted to get straight to the point and that she wasn’t in the mood to talk much. 

The coolness of the mixture hit her without a lot of warning and made her shiver as Mirage carefully repainted the surface of her back, letting layer after layer dry before applying more. With Shelby’s fair and sensitive skin, it was crucial that she be drenched in the stuff to avoid sun burns that rendered her useless sometimes. If she were anyone but Shelby, she would be forced to deal with the pain and suffering being told that not doing so would be soft. But she was Shelby, and everyone was soft with Shelby, for the most part. 

It was just too quiet to her liking and made her uncomfortable, being used to Mirage talking about anything and everything. She knew it would take a few more minutes for the last layer to be completely dry, and she felt okay wasting time if it was with Mirage, she took a deep breath and spoke after they had found a place to sit down that was out of the way in case anyone else needed to do whatever it was they needed to do in these rooms. 

“Hey, M?”

“Mhm?” Mirage still didn’t look at her and was hugging her knees to her chest, eyes focused on the ground. 

“I was reminiscing...of when we first met.”

Mirage finally looked at her with curiosity and a sense of doubt about her. “Why’s that, Shel?”

The younger War Girl took a second to figure how to phrase it, then took a deep breath. “A young girl was brought here without being told why or what for and she has been greeted by an eager society that praises her for her looks and hopeful fertility. She has also already been introduced to the other Wives, most likely confused as to why she was chosen. While I was not young when I came here, I was naïve and was told that I was to be married to a powerful man while my mother was to work for him elsewhere.”

Mirage glared and held up a hand, leaning away from her. “Look, I don’t wanna argue anymore-”

Shelby placed a hand calmly onto Mirage’s shoulder and began to massage it, knowing that the gesture would be rejected at first, but then welcomed as she smoothed out knots her lover had gained with the extra stress and work. “I am not arguing, M. I am merely telling you how I feel. I’ve been blaming you for something you’re not in control of and it’s been gnawing at the back of my mind for the past couple of days since her arrival. She must be absolutely frightened and the others are probably comforting her the best they can, just like you did when I arrived.”

Mirage was silent and went back to staring at the ground, although she leaned into Shelby’s touch more. She remembered like it was yesterday, how her partner had cried and shared her story on the first night, scared and lonely while Mirage slept with her back to her. Shelby thought she had been asleep and just wanted to talk to someone without being told to shut up, and while Mirage was desperately trying to get some sleep, she found that she liked listening to Shelby’s voice so she didn’t do anything to give away that she was still awake, lest the new Wife decided to clam up, leaving Mirage wanting for her to talk more. She had been living in a small tribe just outside of the three major town’s territory. Not in Buzzard territory, but close to the Rock Riders, a little down south of them. They had been in good relations with the Rock Riders, who in turn for food and other services the tribe could provide for them, protected them from any raids or possible run ins with any one of the Citadel region. But they fell out with each other after food was becoming scarcer to grow as the soil grew more toxic and certain plants became inedible. With nothing to trade with, the tribe had moved forward into the Citadel territory, going through Buzzard territory along the way. Not many survived, but those that did were brought to the Citadel where Shelby and her mother had been brought up. Her mother had recently given birth to a baby brother, but he did not make it, but his recent birth meant that her mother would go with the other Milking Mothers while she was to wed the Immortan, the man who ruled the region, a Warlord, decorated in medals and wore a terrifying mask that rendered her speechless. It was only when she was with the company of the others finally behind the vault that she had tried to reach out. 

“The others, you know how they were. Not too excited, morose, and even pitied me. I didn’t know why as none of you would tell me, but you, M. You took me in under your wing, and I was so grateful. We sat together as Miss Giddy taught us lessons of the old world, stayed by each other’s side when...that time came and consoled each other when it was over. You were very protective of me, and I of you. We always ended the day curled up in each other’s arms as we shared the same bed, giggling at whatever it was we thought was worthy of giggling over, forgetting where and who we were. Then in the middle of one one night when we both couldn’t sleep, you kissed my forehead.”

Mirage shifted uncomfortably, hiding her face from Shelby in shame, confusing her. Did she regret it? “I didn’t mean to…I thought you finally fell asleep because your breathing had slowed down and your head had been on my chest for some time.”

Shelby got a little closer to Mirage, the hand she had been massaging Mirage’s shoulder with going to Mirage’s chin and turning her head towards her. She was determined to get her point across to the other now, confident that this would be key to mending their slightly broken relationship. “I know, but I thought it was very sweet of you to do so. Do you remember how I looked up at you, wondering why you did that and then kissed your lips?”

Mirage didn’t say anything but the hint of a smile and blush was present on her face now. Shelby smiled back softly, looking down briefly at Mirage’s lips then back up into her eyes, which only caused the heat Mirage was feeling to spread. With her approval, Shelby planted the same delicate kiss she had given her lover on that night on Mirage’s lips, then on her nose, then on her forehead, then on both cheeks and both eyelids. As she did so, Mirage opened up and grabbed at her, bringing her closer, desperate to feel her touch and warmth against her body again and clung onto her for dear life, as if letting go would mean losing her all over again and the cold, hard feelings that had been haunting her lately would only return and intensify. 

Shelby cupped Mirage’s cheek with one hand and looked into her eyes so that Mirage would know that she was being sincere about her apology. “M? I’m sorry for my behavior lately and I’m sorry for telling you all those nasty things that I did. You didn’t deserve that just because you stood up for Travesty. She’s your best friend, you two have known each other for a long time and I shouldn’t be upset about your choice to support her. It just upsets me knowing that this is what it takes to gain absolute trust.” 

“An’ I’m sorry for being nasty to ya too, Shel. Shouldn’t have called you names and pushed you away only to act like it never happened,” Mirage grimaced at the memory of their confrontations, but her attention was captured again when Shelby planted a big, sloppy kiss onto her partially open mouth that was probably about to form words again. The enthusiasm was contagious as Mirage returned the kiss, both of them grinning now and hugging each other tightly, nails digging into clothing and skin. When they broke away, both of them were panting and felt better than ever, smiles only growing wider as they saw how happy the other was. 

“Come on you, ain’t no time for anythin’ else. I wasn’t even supposed to have left, but I figured that I should follow ya just in case no one was willing to paint yer back for you,” Mirage stood and scooped Shelby up to carry her over to where they had left her tank top. Shelby quickly redressed and gave Mirage one last hug before the two of them returned to work. Mirage almost got punished for ditching her job, but with Shelby there to defend her and tell the Imperator that she had been responsible for Mirage’s quick absence, Mirage was only given a warning to not let it happen again as well as given double duty until sunset. But it had been worth it in her opinion, even though Shelby wanted to apologize for getting her into this. It was better knowing that by being brave and taking the opportunity to talk to Shelby again in an intimate setting had let them have the chance to sort things out and make everything right between them again. Well, mostly right between them. She knew deep down that Shelby was still processing what had happened over the last few days as the memories of being plucked from her family against her will were still relatively fresh compared to the rest of them, so she had been anticipating that she and Shel might not be the same. And they still weren’t, but it was better. Much better. Before they parted, Shelby gave her the sign the two of them had between them that she wanted to see her privately later for rotgut amongst other antics, and while many asked why she seemed so cheerful and maybe even going soft on them, Mirage only smiled knowingly and said nothing that would give away what had transpired between her and the person she was proud to call her lover.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these two tho. I've been writing an au of them and got rly into it, then remembered that I said i would be focusing on other characters, so here we are c: I may post again tomorrow since I'll go back to Vic and her crew, but I may also do something with Travesty and Lexus first. Would be nice to know what readers want but that's ok I'll figure it out


	27. Just Out of Reach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Progress on Vic's party. Caliper tracks what seems to be a lone wanderer while Vic makes plans with Savvy to figure out where to go from there.

Just over an hour later in the hot sun, they heard the sound of multiple footsteps coming up to them, relatively fast. Harker poked her head up first cautiously to see who it was and saw that the three War Girls were coming back, but the look on Savvy’s face was worrying. She nudged Torque to get up as she stood up in the bed of the truck. 

“What did you find?” Harker asked kicking Torque lightly, realizing that her sister had fallen asleep during their wait. She hadn’t really been paying attention, too busy scowling over being abandoned as well as her mind replaying different memories that were messing with her emotions.

“Nothing...A few skeletons and old materials but we couldn’t find anything that you said made that noise. There was however another small opening in one of the tunnels that lead to outside, just big enough for someone to go through. Caliper checked it out.” Vic crossed her arms, looking over at her lancer, letting her know it was her turn to talk.

“There were footprints but they just disappeared. However, there were tracks that indicated someone had been there on a motorcycle recently.”

“Huh?” Torque looked at Harker, confused. Harker was equally as confused, shaking her head in disagreement.

“But we never heard anything!”

“When I say the tracks disappeared, I mean it seems that whoever was there hightailed it out of there, but wanted to be quiet about it. They walked the bike away for some time and then took off. Sorry, if I had been awake I could have seen where they went,” Caliper looked at Savvy apologetically, but Savvy was too busy looking up at the sky, her arms wrapped around herself in a way that showed she was desperately trying not to cry.

“So...shouldn’t we follow? Find a way down?” Torque jumped off of the truck, followed by Harker, who rolled when she landed, earning an eye roll from her sister.

“No. We need to head back,” Vic sighed. “The sun shall be setting soon by the time we arrive back. If we don’t show up by then they’ll send out a search party-”

“We were so close and now we missed our chance!” Savvy wailed, throwing her arms up in despair. “We could have talked to whoever it was that was living in that cave! Could have asked if they knew anything about the Bellamorals or their whereabouts. Now we’ve got...Now we’ve got nothing!” 

She kicked at the sand, agitated, then stalked on over to the truck, hauling herself into the vehicle and taking her spot in the passenger side, slamming the door shut. The rest of them stayed put, unsure of how to approach Savvy now. When she was angry, she was angry, and no one could make her feel better until she had a good long cry or ranted about it without interruptions to one of them.

Vic pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to think. “Caliper, go back and see how far off the trail goes and we’ll come back here tomorrow. We’ll have to bring some help to help us get down the side of the cliff, but it should be doable and we can continue from there.”

“Righto. Be back soon,” She sprinted off, eager to please their leader and right the wrong she had accidentally committed. Vic watched her go, still trying to work out what should be done. 

“Torque. Harker.”

“Yes?”

“I need to talk to Sav alone. Do you think you can occupy yourselves elsewhere?”

Harker spread her arms, pointing out the desolate landscape and laughed harshly. “Right, okay, elsewhere. Where is elsewhere in comparison to where we are?”

Torque poked her twin in the ribs and motioned down to the protruding bones below. “We can take home some bones to make accessories out of them later. Or as weapons. They shouldn’t be too brittle, even though they’ve been here for decades. ‘Sides, Furiosa has a bone handled knife. I kind of want one, too.”

“Fine,” Harker sniffed and dropped her arms to her sides, scowling. “Take me to Death Valley, Tori.”

Vic watched them leave, with Torque telling Harker that Death Valley was located in California, in what used to be the United States and Harker insisting that she was making a joke and didn’t give a shit about this U.S. place. It was hard not to smile fondly over the twins. They had always been her favorites to look after. 

Right now, her full attention was needed by her one of her lancers. Carefully, she went to the driver’s side and opened the door. Savvy didn’t bother to look up. She was staring at her hands, which were clenched into fists on her lap. A few tears seemed to have escaped due to some streaks in her paint, but other than that, Savvy didn’t seem to have the energy to fully let out her disappointment.

“Thought you said we needed to leave, Vic.”

“We do, but I wanted to do more because I know this means a lot to you and after finally finding someone only to immediately lose them, it must feel terrible.”

Savvy snorted and adjusted herself in the seat so that her feet were on the dashboard. Normally Vic would tell her to get them off, but she knew now wasn’t a good time to be yelling at her about trivial matters. She continued.

“I sent Caliper back so that she can find out where to go tomorrow. I’m going to have to ask a few War Boys to help us get the vehicle down the cliffs or at least have them watch the truck while we continue on bikes ourselves.”

“Which War Boys?” Savvy said, her voice almost accusatory. 

“I was thinking about Niles and his crew. I know you don’t like being around War Boys-”

“I hate them,” she responded with hostility. “They cause nothin’ but trouble.”

“But Niles is a good person, always willing to help out. He can be trusted.”

Savvy rolled her eyes, a short sarcastic laugh escaping her lips. “I dunno. He’s really enthusiastic to be around the Pups all the time.”

Vic reached out and placed a hand firmly on Savvy’s shoulder. “He’s a natural born teacher. Kind of like how Miss Giddy is. He values education and while it’s not the same as ours, it fits into their culture. You shouldn’t talk about him like that either. I’m a good judge of character and I would never have anyone I didn’t fully trust come around you, especially War Boys.”

Savvy finally looked up and locked eyes with Vic, glowering at her, a hint of betrayal hidden behind it. “You trusted Travesty. Look where that got you.”

Vic huffed, slumping back against her seat, crossing her arms. “Well, she’s different. And I really don’t appreciate you bringing her up like this.”

“Just pointing that out, Vic.”

“And it’s not okay. I know you’re upset, but don’t bring her into this. Niles can be trusted, always. He’s a genuinely good guy, and I’m not sure how he’s a War Boy to begin with. Well, I mean I know how, but he’s going to become a lancer when before he stayed back at the Citadel to watch over those who were left behind. I think he may have finally found someone that he likes.”

“Good for him. How young do you think he is?”

“For fuck’s sake, Savvy,” Vic had it. She got out of the vehicle, slamming the door behind her, pissed off and disgusted. Niles didn’t deserve the ridicule he got, especially since he had helped her many times in the past, even going out of his way to have his team keep tabs on any War Boys that gave her grief. He really was a good teacher and leader, and his team was fantastic, listening to her when she needed them to and guiding her through the world of War Boys and mechanics, always staying at her speed and never pushing her to do something she didn’t want to do.

As she walked over to the edge of the to watch over the twins, she reasoned that Savvy was still was lashing out out of spite. That had to be it. She knew that her lancer knew Niles enough to know that he meant no harm to anyone. Not long after she heard the passenger side open and close gently and soft footsteps padded over to her, stopping just behind her. 

“Sorry. It’s just that...this is the closest we’ve ever been. And our opportunity is gone. I just want...We need to get out of there. I don’t understand why Travesty wants to go back to him.”

“She’s not. She’s trying to connect with Furiosa and come up with a plan to help break out the Wives, but she also needs to earn the trust of Joe in order to get close enough to do so. It would have been nice to have someone like that while we were there. Furiosa was a War Boy before I came. She was an Imperator when I left.”

“Furiosa’s not gonna help the Wives. She’s been caught too much before.”

“She will...She has to. She knows what it’s like, knows it’s wrong. We had lives before being brought to Joe. She had one too. She talks of the Green Place...Travesty knows of it as well, so they can’t be lying. There’s a haven out there and these women deserve it.”

Savvy scoffed. “Like we don’t?”   
Vic looked over her shoulder to Savvy, puzzled. “We do, but we were going to join your clan.”

“If we find them. At this point...I’ve lost hope. Perhaps this was all a mistake.”

The two of them watched from afar as the twins got into yet another argument, this time with full on fighting. There wasn’t really a reason to break them up so Savvy suggested a bet of who was gonna tell Caliper about their new plan about bringing the War Boys to help them the next day. That would be fun. She would be twice as pissed as Savvy had been. Savvy bet on Harker and Vic chose Torque. It turned into a draw once they realized Caliper had returned and that they also had an audience. 

“How long have ya wankers been watching us?” Torque called out to them. Even from how far away they were, both girls could see Harker glaring at them, the intensity making them step back a bit. 

“Long enough to make a bet on who was gonna win,” Savvy answered, cupping her hands over her mouth so that she could be heard better. 

“Well no one won, so fuck you,” Harker raised both her middle fingers at them and Vic and Savvy couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

After everyone was back up and on the truck, Caliper told them all that the person had continued to go south for a while with no changes, so it would be an easy trail to follow even if the tracks disappeared. Vic then informed Caliper and the twins that the plan was to bring a few War Boys to help them. When Caliper demanded to know which ones Vic was thinking about, she said Niles and his crew. To Savvy’s surprise, Caliper immediately calmed down and the twins lit up. 

“Uncle Niles!”

“Is that what you call him?” Savvy asked skeptically. Everyone looked at them and Torque and Harker’s faces faltered.

“Oh, um,” Torque wrung her hands.

“We just recently-”

“More like an older brother to us-”

“But Uncle seems more fitting!” Harker swore. “He doesn’t seem to mind it.”

“How old is he?” Savvy asked. She knew he was one of the more older War Boys, but not by much. 

“About 9,500 days,” Caliper said. “I remember that much.”

“So, about 8 years older than you two,” Pursing her lips, Savvy tilted her head, thinking about the age difference. “Really not that much older. Why Uncle?”

“Well, yeah, but we mean...He’s been like a father to us...we missed our dad back home.”

“We don’t wanna disrespect him, which is why we say Uncle.”

“Pretty much anyone he can baby or take care of is his child,” Caliper shrugged. “Always been that way. He treated me much better than the other War Pups did when I was growing up, and definitely better than other War Boys.”

“When are we gonna go get him?” Torque asked. They were both giddy and bouncing on their heels while they stood in the back of the truck, making it lurch a bit. 

“As soon as possible. When we get back I’ll go find him and ask if he can. He owes me a favor anyways, so he can’t really say no.” Vic was confident about the plan now that she a majority approval. Hopefully it would be a risk worth taking and she hoped Savvy was just as excited as she was.

“Can we go with you?” 

“Sure. You girls may know where he’s most likely to be anyways.”

“Yes!” The twins high-fived each other, grinning from ear to ear, eyes glowing as they started talking about planning a get together with Niles since it had been awhile since they last bonded. Torque had just been too sick and depressed to really do anything, even if it meant seeing the younger War Pups with their favorite mentor.

“Now, we need to go back to the Citadel.”

The others groaned, but it had to be done. Their time of a taste of freedom was over for now, and they really did not want to face the consequences if they had a search party after them. The drive back home seemed to be quicker than they expected and they arrived just in time to jump onto the platform as it started to rise back up. Vic looked down over the edge, watching the Wretched beg to be brought as well, offering anything they could and scrambling to join them, going as far as hanging on the edge before being kicked or thrown off by the guards. A lump formed in her throat as she began wondering about whether or not leaving all of this behind was fair. The Wretched were people too, desperate to be “taken care of” like they were, believing the life they lived was better. And in a way it was, they all had to admit unfortunately.

It would be something to think about later, but for now she was dedicated to uniting Savvy with her clan and dedicated to escaping the Immortan’s grasp once and for all. She took one last glimpse before getting off of the platform and leading the others down the tunnels, deep in thought. Behind her, Caliper listened intently to Savvy’s well deserved complaints and the twins were whispering to each other about getting to see Niles properly again. A quick glance behind to look at them all helped Vic make a very important decision, one that she wouldn’t be telling them for some time. She just hoped it would be the right one in the long run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, sorry this has been a rly long break. Lots of homework, lots of stress. Was in a car accident, you know. I'm fine, it wasn't my fault, so at least there's that. It got me thinking though, if I was living this life, I wouldn't make it, the hit scared the shit out me, how the fuck am I gonna get used to being hit from other cars and projectiles on the Fury Road? Anyways. Decided to post this because I got stuck on the current chapter I'm writing but I was getting antsy about updating too. Hope to post three more chapters in the upcoming days to make up for not updating in a while!


	28. Pick a Number, Any Number

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Travesty and Lexus become a part of a horror scene from a movie, then trust is questioned when Lexus gets them into more trouble that could cost them dearly.

“Blood and guts aside, are you okay?” Travesty asked, voice breaking as she tried her best to comprehend the accident that had just occurred, peeling some sort of organic matter off of her arm, trying to keep the contents of her stomach in check as she really couldn’t afford to lose any of her rations. Some parts of her skin were wet and warm from the fresh blood making contact with it. The need to rush to the pools and wash herself off was starting to become overwhelming, the smell of copper filling her head and bringing back some not so nice thoughts. Glancing at her companion, she waited for her answer, afraid that she might be too traumatized to do anything other than stare. Sure enough, Lexus was still in shock, jaw hanging open, eyes wide and her breathing was starting to speed up, immediately alerting Travesty to the upcoming potential hyperventilating. 

“Hey, Lexus, I know neither of us really needed to see that, but I also can’t afford to have you freak out on me, okay? Oi, get yerself together, mate!” She grabbed Lexus by the shoulders and locked eyes with her and began to take deep, even breaths, a thing she had seen Harker do with Torque when things got bad for the sick twin. It took a moment for Lexus to understand what Travesty was trying to do, and another until both of them were calm and collected again. Lexus gave her a grateful look before peeking over her shoulder to the scene that lay before them. 

“Nice, okay, great, er, since ‘m not sure who to report this too, we need to clean this up as fast as we can. I think. Oh man, he just...didn’t stand a fuckin’ chance. Not a single fuckin’ chance.” The lanky War Girl looked back down at the mangled upper half of the body of a War Boy that had been torn up by a machine that only moments ago had been helping him break down reclaimed metal to be melted down later on. The lower was sticking out from the mouth of the machine, an eerie sight that would be ingrained in their minds forever. Travesty and Lexus had shown up to collect what he had done only to watch in horror as the Boy started at their sudden appearance, tripped, and fell into the machine head first. His screaming had been cut short with a sickening crunch of his head being mashed together, so no one else close to the area had really taken notice. If they even cared, that is. Accidents happened all the time with inexperienced War Boys and Pups trying something on their own without proper supervision, and it seemed like this young War Boy didn’t have an older, more experienced War Boy with him to keep watch on him. Not that it might have mattered anyways, it happened all too fast. 

“What do we even do?” Lexus whispered, her voice weaker than usual, which was obviously understandable. Travesty had to give it to her thought, it was very steady, more steady than she was feeling, that is. She was still frozen to the spot, but she had shifted her weight, telling Travesty that she was recovered enough to relax and regain her composure. It was always weird to Travesty when Lexus lost her cool, but it happened. Just now might not be the best time since she herself needed grounding.

“I don’t even know where to start, mate. He...Ah, fuck, I really don’t wanna jus’ leave ‘im ‘ere, ya know?” Travesty went over to the bottom half of the torso and dug around in the pockets. She ignored Lexus’s confused and disgusted face until she found what she was hoping she would find. A pair of dice, dark blue, six-sided. As her mind cleared up, she thought she had recognized him from a bet she had lost years before. Now if only she could find the War Boy that stole, er, won her favorite-

“You there! War Girls!” 

Both of them jumped and swerved around, terrified that they would get in trouble with the Imperator walking up to them rather swiftly, elbowing any War Boys standing around to get out of his way with a scowl on his face. Now Travesty and Lexus understood why Torque and Harker held onto each other so much, it was very useful having contact with another person when you were about to get your arse handed to you. They tried to reach each for each other’s hands, but struggled to do, each keeping just out of reach for the other until Lexus got fed up and grabbed Travesty’s shaky hand roughly, pulling her closer. She gave her a firm look before lowering her eyes uneasily in the direction of the Imperator, not wishing to anger him further if he felt that he wasn’t getting respect. Quickly, Travesty lowered her head too, but kept an eye on him, wary. 

“Need you two reportin’ fer yer assigned duties, right now, no fussin’. We’re expectin’ each one of ya to-blimey, what happened to him?” The Imperator pushed through them both and knelt down, examining what was left of the body, even going so far as to poke some of the parts not shredded. It sickened Lexus watching him do so, but she could of sworn she saw Travesty gag before swallowing. She made a face at the other one while she wasn’t looking. Ew. 

“We dunno, Imperator, we just got ‘ere. We was supposed to take the metal back up, but ‘e fell into the thing.”

“Hm. Well, accidents happen all the time, am I right, Girls?”

Hesitant, the War Girls glanced at each other before nodding. They weren’t getting any particular kind of vibe from the Imperator, but they could tell that they might get into some sort of trouble. He might assume that one of them was spotting and that maybe the were lying about coming up together to get the metal, or worse, judging from the jagged scar across her throat, old but still noticeable, he probably knew what happened to the War Boy that did it and thought it was suspicious that yet another Boy met a grisly fate by their hands. Lexus looked at the ground frowning, starting to think while Travesty did the talking. 

“For the Immortan and V8’s sake, mate, we didn’t do anythin’ other than maybe startle ‘im, but that ain’t our fault. No one else was around when we got here. Look, do ya want us to move the body or what?”

The Imperator rose, no longer amused with either of them. He stepped towards them and Lexus shrunk back a bit behind Travesty. “I’m not yer mate, mate. Got it?”

Travesty scoffed. “Yeah, yeah, whatever-”

“Being disrespectful ain’t gonna help you Girls out either.”

“Jus’ tell us what to do an’ we’ll do it, ya git!” 

While Lexus usually admired Travesty’s confrontational style, and by admired, she meant her heart skipped a beat every time it happened and her face usually flushed with arousal, but this time...the flush was more of embarrassment and wanting to melt into the ground. Maybe shove herself into the machine too to escape punishment. Her mind raced in attempts to find something to distract the Imperator, but the list of options were frighteningly short. Some of the more curious War Boys near the area hesitated in continuing their duties, interested in seeing where this was going since not a whole lot of people had the guts to talk back to an Imperator. 

Travesty would not back down from this man. No, if she were to earn her status as an Imperator, she would need to learn how to tussle with one, act like one, show one that she was capable. As much as her gut was screaming at her not to get any closer to him, she ignored it, and pulled out the dice from her pocket. Normally she would take it as a warning, but for now, her gut instinct was just getting in the way of her advancement. The dice caught the Imperator’s eye and he raised an eyebrow up, amused and clearly thought she was joking at the very least.

“Don’t try me t’day, Girl,” he warned, his voice low as he got even closer into her space. She pushed him back, still determined to them get away from him without incident. He could send some other War Boy to get Organic if that’s what he needed. Or better yet, he could get the man himself. Lazy git.

“‘m not. Go ahead, pick a number, ya know ‘ow to count, right? You get it, we’ll do whatever it is you can think of that involves cleanin’ this mess up. If I get it, then we get to leave to wash this shit off of us while you go find another War Boy to finish the job. Both jobs. None of us get it? Then we roll again. If none of us get it again, then great. You got yerself two War Girls capable of cleanin’. Wouldn’t know ‘ow if we hadn’t been prized breeders, right? Mate?”

The Imperator scoffed. “Odds are in my favor if I call for seven.”

“Snake eyes,” Travesty said confidently, nodding her head, and gave him the dice as he roared with laughter. 

“These are rigged aren’t they?”

“Nah, just roll, mate.”

Meanwhile, Lexus gave up trying to do anything productive, so she stood against the wall, watching them intensely. She wasn’t sure what Travesty was getting at, but her interest was piqued. For the most part, this was wasting time, and she was completely fine with knowing that. A couple of the curious War Boys had quit doing their work altogether, joining her and surrounding Travesty and the Imperator, who was still laughing, almost to tears at this point. She leaned against the one closest to her and whispered into his ear, showing him one of Travesty’s gifts, a decorative tool made of teeth from the War Boy that had slashed her throat, a prize that Lexus loved the most and was incredibly defensive over. He nodded and showed her a knuckle contraption made from old military dog tags that were sharped to a point at the end as well as a handful of obscured objects that made her eyes light up. Satisfied, she grinned and returned to watch the Imperator finally let go of the dice having gotten over his laughing fit. He rolled a nine. 

“Eh, better luck next time. Give ‘em to me, ‘m rollin’ this one,” when he shot her an accusing glare, she shrugged a shoulder. “Only fair, mate.”

“I’m not yer mate.”

“Oi, I ain’t sayin’ it to be friendly! Now give ‘em ‘ere, they’re my dice ‘n we gotta change numbers anyway.”

“Hmph. I’m stickin’ to seven,” the Imperator snorted and scratched his nose, still not taking this seriously. 

Travesty narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms. “Really?”

“Odds are in my favor.”

“Odds get better if ya switch each time.”

“You’re bluffin’.”

“Could be.”

“...Then I’m stickin’ to-”

“Seven, got it,” she started to shake the dice in her hands and almost opened her mouth to call her number when he spoke up again.

“No, no, no, wait a minute, I changed me mind. I call fer five.”

“Ya sure?”

“Yeh.”

“Positive?”

“Yes.”

“Completely dedicated to the number five?”

“...just fuckin’ roll, mate.”

“Suit yerself. Seven,” Travesty gave him a toothy smile before she let go, laughing at the horror on his face as he realized that she had tricked him into giving her the better odds. It wasn’t even a good trick and yet he fell for it, the way his confidence had been questioned made him rethink several times what to call. As the dice hit the ground and bounced a couple of times, the entire area was quiet and no one seemed to breathe, except for the lanky War Girl who closed her eyes and kept a slow, steady pace with her breathing. 

After the silence had lasted for too long, she opened them again and saw the Imperator was kneeling down on the ground about to reach out and grab the dice again before she could see what the number was and no one was going to tell her. Lexus of course would have, but she couldn’t without risking blowing out her voice yet again. Instead, she ran up behind the Imperator and kicked him forward, scrambling the dice again. The War Boys began whooping and hollering at the sudden flip of power as Travesty quickly snatched the dice up and the two of them started running back the way they had come. Travesty took one last look behind her and wished she hadn’t. The Imperator had gotten up and was following them, with two other War Boys that he had employed to get them, and it sucked because her knee was starting to hold her back, crunching with every step she took. As much as she wanted to limp and back off, she knew they were in deep shit after Lexus pulled off her little stunt. She still didn’t know if she got the number or not.

“Oi, Lexus! Top of the Citadel now, S n’ M can help ya-”

But Lexus came to a screeching stop. A plan had just popped up in her mind and while it was probably the stupidest one she had ever come up with, it was worth a try. She looked back at Travesty, a scheme forming behind her eyes that made a shiver run down her spine. Before she knew what was happening, Lexus had rushed up to her, lifted her up, slung her up over her shoulder, and ran. This was one of the few times that Travesty was grateful that she was slim and shorter than her partner. As Lexus ran through the halls, knocking doors open and pushing anyone in the way aside, Travesty kept an eye out on their pursuers. More War Boys had joined the chase, eager to catch up to them. It was a game that two of them had unintentionally started, and instead of feeling terrified, she felt a need to taunt them and make them try harder to catch up to them. It was a feeling of confidence, but that was quite the word for it. She didn’t have too much time to dwell on it because Lexus ran through one more door and suddenly she was blind, sunlight hitting her eyes without warning. She turned as far as she could, seeing that they were outside, and not in front of a bridge, but Lexus was still running towards the edge without any intentions of stopping.

“What are ya doing?” Travesty didn’t mean to shriek, but she did, pure panic overtaking her as she started to struggle out of Lexus’s steel grip, actually wanting the War Boys to catch up to them now to stop this fucking madness that had overtaken Lexus.

“Trust me! Just hold on!” Was the cracked reply, and then suddenly they ran out of ground and they were dropping at an alarming rate. The last thing she saw before it was all cliff was the War Boys bursting through and halting in their tracks, astonished, like they couldn’t believe their eyes. 

As they were about to hit the ground, Travesty blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finals are next week and I got three essays that I gotta write on top of the two tests that I need to take in the same day. None of this would be a problem if one, a local con is beckoning me to go to it, and two, wondercon is the weekend after and we leave on thursday for it. Everything happens so much.


	29. Fortune Favors the Faithful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Travesty's life continues to be a roller coaster of unwanted emotions and ties.

Water hit her face, getting into her mouth just as she breathed in. She choked on it, but the coolness of it did the trick of waking her up. Lexus was kneeling over her, with canteen in hand and a concerned look on her face, but as soon as Travesty opened her eyes up and blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what had just happened, she smiled softly and planted a kiss on her forehead. She couldn’t figure out where they were as things were still a little blurry. She cursed under her breath for blacking out, a sign that her iron levels were low to top it all off. She could feel the water dripping down her face and onto her chest, her bum knee throbbing from the abuse she put it through without properly warming it up, and her ribs ached, most likely from the jarring landing Lexus had once they reached the ground below them. Wait...no one was following them, so that meant that Lexus had managed to shake off the War Boys and Imperator in a single dangerous move. She looked up at her in pure awe, amazed and grateful as she was unsure what would have happened to them if their pursuers had caught up to them. 

“You...you bloody brilliant piece a work, Lexus! What-what did you do?”

Her partner mimed it out for her. From what Travesty could work out in her still confused state, Lexus knew about the platform below the exit that they had come out from. It was one of a few where War Boys could toss stuff to the next few floors down without having to walk all the way, plus it made chores easier to finish up. The pulley system would pick up anything left on the platform to bring it up to drop sites or to the tops of the Citadel, and that was the only risk she was taking other than breaking her legs upon impact with the platform. She had slowed her fall by twisting in the air and by using the knuckle contraption she won from the War Boy ignorant enough to bet against Travesty winning the toss up, Lexus was able to dig it in far enough into the rocky exterior to make the landing safer. It slowed them down to the point that she didn’t break anything, but both of her ankles were sprained and her knees were bruised from falling forward because of the extra weight she was carrying. Travesty snorted. Lexus might have hated the taste of mother’s milk, but she always made sure to have more than her fill to help build up her bone density. In another effort to shake the Boys off of them, Lexus had ignored the pain and swelling in her boots to get them both to Torque’s workstation, a place where they would be safe as long as no other War Boys tattled on them. 

Travesty wasn’t quite sure of what to say when she was done explaining, but she knew that they needed to leave and get cleaned up. The blood was blocked by the war paint, but still, she didn’t need to get sick or catch something from the War Boy that died in front of them. “Let’s not ever do that again. I dunno what was going on with you when ya kicked that Imperator, but you got us out of that mess right quick. You’re just...fantastic, ya know that, Lexus?”

Her partner helped her stand up again and brushed the dirt off of Travesty’s clothing as she nodded. 

“Look, I’d rather not be ‘ere when the others come back, Torque and Harks already think ‘m creepin’ on ‘em, which is bad enough. We should go find Vi to escort us to the pools n’ keep an eye out while we get this all washed off.”

And that’s how the two of them, still covered in blood and dirt, found themselves wandering around, keeping to the shadows, and watching their backs as they searched for their friend. Travesty was supporting Lexus and encouraging her to keep going, although they did have to take quick breaks for their joints to have a breather and recover before they traveled farther. They came across an intersecting tunnel, one that was relatively close to where they used to be as Wives and a heavy feeling overcame them both, but they wouldn’t admit it to each other.

Just as they rounded the corner, Travesty caught sight of a group of young girls, all Daughters to Immortan Joe. Upon seeing them, she inhaled sharply, yet shaky. A few Imperators were guiding them to a place that she could only imagine, but it most likely had something to do with the new Wife. One of the Imperators spotted them and glared, but ultimately did not do anything to keep them from being close to the girls. As women, they posed no threat to the Daughters. Lexus didn’t catch on right away as to why Travesty seemed so taken back by the scene playing out in front of them. Amused, she waved a hand in front of Travesty’s face trying to get her attention, then got close to her ear, hoping to bring Travesty back to reality. 

“What’s wrong, love? It’s just the Daughters being escorted to the welcome dinner.”

Travesty didn’t answer, nor hear the question. She was too busy scanning all of the girls dressed in off white garments, their faces hidden and heads down in submission. Most of them had long hair that obscured their faces, making it even more difficult to find what she was looking for. A glimmer of hope sparked in her chest, but it was quickly burnt out when she couldn’t recognize a single girl. 

“I can’t see ‘em,” she whispered, thinking that she was saying in her mind instead of out loud. It puzzled Lexus greatly. 

“See who?”

That got Travesty to snap out of it and she whipped her head back to Lexus, as if just noticing that she was still with her. “For...they’re about seven years old, they should still be ‘ere. I don’t remember Joe giving any away recently...Oh no, no, no, no!” Travesty tried to go after them, but Lexus caught her arm and pulled her back.

“Don’t just rush in there, not like this!” She hissed, reminding Travesty of their appearance. 

“I need to know if they’re still ‘ere, Lexus, let go of me!”

Lexus shook her head no and gripped Travesty tighter. Her throat was feeling scratchy, but she knew if she let go Travesty would get herself into more trouble. Regretting this, she talked the other War Girl down until the girls and Imperators were out of sight. It pained her seeing her love be this reactive and emotional, something that she always kept in check. It finally dawned on her as to why and she pulled Travesty in for a hug, restraining her from getting away until she had calmed down enough to continue on. Travesty fought against her initially, but gave up, still weak and lightheaded. 

“They have to still be ‘ere, Lexus. I dunno what I would do not knowin’ where they went,” Travesty’s tears fell down onto Lexus’s chest. She tried to regain control of herself and shuddered with each breath, feeling soreness start to form in her throat. “‘s not fair, Vi gets to see her son all the time ‘n I can’t even see my own kids.”

“You had daughters,” Lexus whispered, finally letting Travesty go and watched her slump down onto the ground with a pain in her heart she couldn’t quite explain. Her own throat had had enough, she couldn’t use her voice anymore than she already had, but she was confident Travesty wouldn’t try to run after the Daughters now. Even when she thought Travesty told her everything, she was still finding out the hard way about her love’s past.

“Yeh…’aven’t seen ‘em in...I dunno. They’re six now, maybe seven. At least I think so. ’s been too long for me to be sure,” the lanky War Girl said softly, slouching and holding herself around her waist, literally trying to hold herself together. “You weren’t 'ere when they were born. I know they’ve gotta be alive, they were 'ealthy when they were born...but …”

“Come on you two, you’re makin’ us late!” A male voice boomed, irritated but still good natured. It made Travesty and Lexus freeze in their tracks, and they immediately stood up, on their toes and on high alert now, ready to run again if they had to. 

“But we don’t wanna go!” came a small, feminine reply.

“There’s no arguin’ about it to be had.”

“But-” a different voice this time, a tad lower than the first feminine one.

“Shush! A good girl keeps her mouth shut.”

The two War Girls snapped their attention to the voices coming down the hallway towards them. With no idea of what to do, Travesty leaned up against the wall and urged Lexus to do the same. She wasn’t sure if they should leave or stick around to see who was coming. Curiosity overtook them both, so they didn’t move from their spots, even going so far as to quiet their breathing and not move a single muscle in hopes that they wouldn’t be seen.

“A good woman keeps her home clean, her husband happy, food at the ready, and bears children when the time comes,” The male voice stated, although it seemed like he was just reciting something told to him many times before without him actually believing any of it. Both Lexus and Travesty gagged at the thought, remembering those words exactly being drilled into them. 

“We’ve heard it all before, Imperator.”

“Our father never stops talking about it.”

“Everyday our lessons are-”

“This is how you take care of a man, this is how you knit, this is how to prepare food, this is why you’re below yer husband.”

“Alright, that’s enough, that’s enough. How you two never get into any trouble is beyond me,” the Imperator escorting the two girls sighed heavily. They were getting closer now, maybe a few yards away. Travesty could feel her heart thumping in her ears and she briefly wondered if Lexus could hear it, too. A hand on her shoulder to reassure her told her that while Lexus probably couldn’t actually hear the frantic heart beats, she could sense how tense Travesty was getting by the second.

“We’re clever enough to annoy only you.”

“And we know you wouldn’t speak poorly of one of the Immortan’s precious Daughters.”

“Precious Daughters about to be traded for a new alliance.”

“Everyone likes twins.”

“I do think we’re quite lovely together.”

“Of course, our future husband will be so pleased.”

“In a few more years, one of our father’s heirs will take over and control the new territory.”

“Which of the Immortan’s heirs?” The Imperator asked, the skeptical-ness almost palpable. Far as he knew, the Immortan didn’t have any, or at least any that the Immortan thought would be capable of running and representing him in other establishments.

“A War Pup. Not tellin’ who.”

“Not tellin’ you.”

Travesty gasped, knowing exactly who the girls were talking about and she looked at Lexus who also had her jaw hanging open. Did Viper know? Would Viper know? Was it fair to keep this from her? It was coming from the Immortan’s Daughters, but they might be too young to fully comprehend what they were saying. It was something to think about for later. If there was a later. They inched closer to try and hear better, but the talking had stopped for the moment. Confused, Travesty looked back at Lexus and tried to decide whether or not they should leave. There wasn’t a guarantee that these were her daughters, but they were twins, and twins were rare. Very rare.

The Imperator and the girls finally reached the intersection and they saw the War Girls leaning against the wall, trying to make themselves flat as possible. The Imperator stopped in his tracks and pointed, reaching for something in his back pocket, taking a step in front of the Daughters protectively. “Oi! You there, lurkin’ around in the shadows!”

Travesty gulped and turned around to face them. She knew him and she knew the two girls, even though they were much older than she remembered and she paused for a second as she registered that they were just meters away from her. The Imperator was a part of Niles’s crew, the brother of the superstitious one, Gibbs. She had forgotten his name, but he apparently hadn’t forgotten hers, or why she was so interested in the two Daughters. She stepped forward, a hand turned back to signal Lexus to stay where she was as she made her way up to the Imperator. She avoided looking at the girls as best she could, out of not wanting to upset herself any further and to follow the procedure that all War Boys were required to know. Looking at the Daughters meant trouble, even more so than looking at his Wives. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. 

“Off you two go now, you know where the others went.”

“Who are they?” one of the Daughters asked tentatively, unsure of whether or not she should be speaking. Travesty didn’t look up, nor see which one spoke.

“War Girls,” the Imperator said impatiently, shoving them forward and gesturing down the corridor. The twins looked at each other and didn’t follow his orders, their interest captured by Travesty and Lexus, and they wanted answers from both of them.

“Were you crying? Why are you covered in blood?” one of the twins asked, genuinely concerned, even coming so far as to walk closer to reach a hand out and touch Travesty’s wrist. Reluctantly, she pulled back just enough so they didn’t make contact.

“What happened to yer face?” the other followed up, grabbing her sister’s hand and tugged her away, disgusted. It was almost enough for Travesty to start a breakdown right then and there. It took all of her strength not to look them in the eye and keep quiet. To not tell them that she was their mother and ask if they remembered her at all, what she looked like before the accident. What their names were. She didn’t even know their names since it was a little unlikely the names she gave them were kept and that hurt even more to wonder if that tie was severed too. 

“None of yer business. Now get goin’, the Immortan will find it disrespectful that you showed up late.”

“We’ll blame it on you. Kind of suspicious havin’ an Imperator escort two girls by ‘imself. Come on Faith, the new Wife must be starving.”

With that, the unnamed twin and her sister Faith began to walk briskly down the corridor. Faith looked back, still wondering who she was and Travesty wanted to believe that she might have recognized her, so she did. Before the Imperator could stop her, she waved to them, giving her the best smile she could muster up given the circumstances. 

“What are you two doing here?” The Imperator asked, not demanding, just genuinely wondering why they were so close to the upper quarters. He relaxed and put his hands on his hips after he beckoned Lexus to come out too, which she did with a lot of caution, looking both ways before fully stepping out.

“We’re looking for Viper. She ain’t ‘ere is she?” Travesty managed, still looking down the hallway after her girls. She thought she might have felt more of a connection between them, but there was barely anything. It was a disturbing feeling and now she needed to talk to Viper about more than just keeping an eye out of danger.

“No, haven’t seen her. Look, you two need to leave the area. The Immortan is due to make his grand entrance and He will not be happy to see you like this, guarantee it.”

“No problem, mate...no problem at all,” Travesty turned and limped off, putting her hands in her pocket and kept her head up, walking right past Lexus with indifference. “Be seein’ you.” 

“They’re gonna be gone soon, maybe by this time in the next few days as the arrangements are settled. The party is in need of a scout. ’s not much, but ’s the best I can do,” she heard the Imperator say, trying to reach out to her. 

Travesty stopped, looked over her shoulder,and took a minute to decide, opening her mouth up like she was about to say something, but she only shut it again and shook her head, continuing on back down the path. “Be seein’ you.”

As the Imperator shrugged and walked off in the direction he needed to go, Lexus was left standing there by herself. Uncertain if Travesty wanted her company now, she kept a fair distance away, scared of whether or not her partner was going to do anything that she was going to regret later. At least now she knew why Travesty kept a close eye on Torque and Harker while pushing them away at the same time, not wanting to be close to the wrong set of twins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp  
> next chapter is in the works, i hope no one hates me too much lol


	30. The M-Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Viper learns some interesting new information on the new Wife and later, a small fight between three War Girls ensues, but everyone makes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm definitely rereading this in the morning, that's all i'm saying. My eyes can't stay open, but I rly wanted to post, so thank groggy and exhausted me for any mistakes lol sorry

From the moment Vic and her crew had left and the others went about to do their duties around the Citadel, Viper had gone about her own business. Vic had pulled her aside a few days earlier and told her that they (her crew) were not comfortable with her getting more involved with War Boys and the missions she was being assigned on the daily. She had argued back that what she was doing was going to benefit all of them before asking Vic why she wasn’t going out of her way to talk to Travesty and her supporters either. That got Vic to shut up completely and Viper had left her standing there to think about why she was targeting her. She didn’t need to know what had been going on between Vic and Travesty, but she did know that she was okay with leaving Vic and the others behind for now. They could think what they wanted of her. She was getting closer to her goal each day, and each day was a day closer to getting into a position to protect her son and get closer to her husband in a way that would get under his skin easily. With the status of Imperator, she would have better knowledge of what was going on politically and therefore have better knowledge of what plans might work or fail. 

Today, she was doing some training with Ulrich up until mid-day, then they would part ways and she would be assigned to make rounds and take note of progress being made in preparation for the welcome dinner, then report to Furiosa about it. She hoped within the next few weeks, she would be promoted to her dream position and shed her War Girl identity. She also hoped the same for Ulrich. He was not half-life as of right now, and she felt with him getting promoted as well, it would be a good thing to have someone else with the same kind of power to trust in case anything went sour.

Her feelings about him recently were murky. They trained well together, and while in the beginning it was difficult to get used to each other as Viper could be incredibly critical and dished out insults without second thoughts while Ulrich fought back with his own witty comments and critiques of her, they worked smoothly and communication was never an issue. Each took responsibility for their mistakes and knew that even if it wasn’t asked out loud, a sentence or two that depicted what could have been done to prevent it was helpful and necessary to keep them together on the same page. If she were to be honest, she wasn’t used to this kind of relationship. Yes, he made a great and possibly even ideal partner, suiting her needs and he never made her question the decision to choose him over other War Boys vying to be her right hand man. It was more a question of whether or not this was the ideal time, and as their relationship got more involved outside of sparring and training, she wondered if he would be an okay figure for Duncan to look up to. Her son was more important than Ulrich, and if Duncan was not comfortable with him, then they would need to keep their relationship strictly as driver and lancer and nothing more. She couldn’t risk Duncan feeling like he was being replaced or pushed off to the side. He was the main reason she felt it to be crucial to start climbing ranks to change the Citadel from the inside out. Without him, there wasn’t much of a point as she had no where else to go but stay. 

She walked through the Citadel leisurely after sparring with her new driver, taking note of the current activities. They seemed to be more elaborate than when she arrived, which was good to some extent. It meant that the bride-to-be would be wooed, depending upon her age, just like she had been. But that definition of being wooed when it came to Joe meant being too overwhelmed and in shock to really decline anything and it was a good false first impression, she had to admit. She had at first thought that she would be getting more freedom to roam around than she had been given, but that idea had been quickly shut down once the week of celebration came to a close. The true reality set in once she was behind the vault door, with the others that had stared at her, not really talking, not really doing anything in general. She could just tell that they knew something grim that she didn’t and from that moment on, she had been very wary and on her toes. But that was in the past. This was now. All she could do really was hope that the new Wife would feel comfortable at first and that the other women in the vault would welcome her best they could, given the circumstances. 

On her way down deeper into the tunnel system, she overheard a conversation amongst a few wandering Milking Mothers, getting their exercise to stretch their legs after sitting for so long in the designated area. She didn’t really get a good look at them, but she could have sworn of them was Shelby’s mother. That was good to know, Shelby had been getting worried since she was getting rather busy lately as a highly praised Green Thumb. Viper slowed down just so that she could gather any information they had, even if it was trivial. 

“Cheedo. That’s her name?”

“Cheedo the Fragile. Bless her, she’s so young and naïve.”

“How old?” 

“Just older than 4,300 days. She’s not gonna be ready for him for another thousand days or so. If at all at this rate. The healthy ones that he wants seem to be running out.”

Too young, according to Viper, but she bit her tongue and continued on her way, not wanting to give away that she had been eavesdropping when she really shouldn’t have been. She remembered hating speaking as people passed, a little too closely, eager to hear what the Milking Mothers were discussing. Knitting? Their milk? She shivered involuntarily. 

While she might not have been welcome anymore to be near the other War Girls that opposed her ideas, it was still her right to use their common room as an escape from the men and to get supplies specifically for them all. Right now she just needed to see if they had any of the plants that helped reduce headaches that Shelby stole should any of them need it. They were really only for Organic to use, but Shelby could get away with anything at this point; she was untouchable and no one would believe that any supplies that were missing were her fault. Viper smiled to herself, admiring the other War Girl’s ability. If only she were so lucky, this whole process would go a lot a faster.

Viper theorized that if she was quick about it, she could go visit Duncan and take him out for a spin with Ulrich. It would be the second time her son met her partner and the excuse for Niles was that she wanted Duncan to have first hand experience with a mock patrol and that Ulrich was there as another safety precaution in case anything happened. And even if Niles disagreed, he knew that she would do it anyways, and he didn’t actually have a say in the matter to begin with. 

She heard muffled crying or something like that as she neared the entrance. Puzzled and curious to know who it was, she didn’t enter and just waited to see if there was any talking. Again with the eavesdropping. It was a habit that should be stopped, but she lived off of information as well as knowing who she was going to be dealing with beforehand. She stood there for some time in the dark and as the minutes ticked by, she knew she was losing her chance with Duncan. The crying was still going, but it was much slower, subdued, and who ever it was was clearly trying her best to stop by now. Viper crept in, only to be met with two startled War Girls followed immediately with one look of apology and one look of pure hatred. 

“You.”

“Me,” Viper said slowly, unsure if she should come any closer. She took an experimental step forward, and when that wasn’t met with any protest, she timidly took a few more steps. 

Travesty was crumpled up on the floor with Lexus sitting next to her, rubbing her back to help soothe the hurt War Girl. Both were still covered in blood and dirt and it made Viper wonder if they had gotten into a physical fight with anyone, but she didn’t dare say anything. She glanced at Lexus and she asked what happened with her hands. Lexus signed back ‘Long story. Give her a second.’

At that point, Viper gave up on seeing Duncan today. It was a silly idea to begin with, he was still too young to be out there in a car. She knelt down and waited for as long as she needed to, worried about what might have happened. It was obvious that whatever it was, she had something to do with it indirectly, but it was enough for Travesty to be completely heartbroken and upset over whatever it was. 

“‘ow’s yer son.”

“He’s doing okay. I haven’t seen in a couple of days. I’ve been a little too busy.”

“But you’ve still seen ‘im. You see ‘im regularly.”

“...Aye.”

“How come.”

“Travesty, what is this about? What does my son have to do with this?”

“It ‘as to do with everythin’,” Travesty scoffed. “I saw ‘em today.”

That made Viper stop dead in her tracks. Travesty hadn’t talked to her about them in such a long time that she had almost forgotten what she had been going on and on about just now. “You...you did?”

“Yeh. Both of ‘em have made it so far. Both of ‘em are leaving within the next few days. I was within inches of them at one point, but...I felt nothing. Jus’ knew that they’re a part of me but that was it. If I got to see ‘em more, maybe I wouldn’t feel this way about ‘em.”

“Are you implying that I’m closer to my son simply because I can see him anytime I want to?” Viper asked carefully, not enjoying the tone Travesty had taken on.

“I’m implyin’ somethin’.”

“Travesty…”

“I’m a mother, but I don’t feel like one. They’re not mine, they’re ‘is! And now they’re gonna be someone else’s! I dunno who, but now I can’t protect ‘em from the danger they might be put in!”

“Duncan is his, too,” Viper narrowed her eyes, taking on a more defensive position. Lexus shifted, uncomfortable and afraid of the argument about to commence. Travesty had every right to be upset and angry, but she shouldn’t be taking it out of the one person who could understand her the most at this time. 

“Don’t ye dare think fer a moment that I consider Duncan tae only be me own. Whether I like it or not, Joe is half o’ ‘im. ‘m reminded of it every time I see ‘im, and ‘m disgusted each time. ‘s taken me so long tae come ta love ‘im as much as I do now. This did not ‘appen over night. Nay, this is years o’ tryin’ tae accept that ‘e was made as a test ta prove that ‘e could still make a heir. Yer daughters. They’re more precious tae ‘im than my son is and ye know that, lass.”

Neither Lexus nor Travesty spoke. Viper softened up a little after getting that little rant out, finally feeling like she could express her thoughts and opinions about the difference in treatment with Duncan compared to the Immortan’s daughters. Image was everything for the man. 

“‘m sorry about yer girls, but bein’ a mother is somethin’ I wanted tae be and ’s somethin’ I still want. Motherhood is about fightin’ tae keep yer kid safe, but sometimes ye can’t always be there fer them. If ye don’t feel like a mother, then you’re not a mother. They’re always goin’ ta to be yer children, Travesty. But ‘s up tae ye whether or nae ye want tae connect wit’ them. If given the opportunity, take it. If ye don’t want tae, you have yer answer.”

Travesty’s expression relaxed and she stared off into space. Viper recognized that look and she knelt down next to Travesty, trying to recapture her attention. The other War Girl looked like she was trying to figure out how to say something, so Viper waited patiently until Travesty was able to speak again. By now Lexus had moved away from them and watched them from the shadows, feeling very out of place and overwhelmed. She hadn’t known about Travesty’s daughters, but Viper had. Who else knew? If Vic knew, she would for sure have a few words with Travesty later for keeping things from her for so long, but now was definitely not the time.

“I...I am one of the Vuvalini. I don’t remember much ‘cause of ‘ow young I was, but motherhood was a huge part of our society, and yet it still feels so...I dunno. Like I was stripped of it before I could get a grasp of what it meant. Twice.” 

“It’s somethin’ that is subjective to each woman. For me, it is securing a better future for my son ‘ere since we ‘ave no place else tae go out there,” Viper cocked her head and mirrored Travesty just so that she knew that Viper was on her side and genuine about what she was saying. “From one mother to another, do what ye feel here, in yer heart. If ye need support, I can offer it. The fear you’re feeling is natural, and rejection is hard to accept, but it ‘appens. All ye can do is let go. Holdin’ on is what ‘urts ye the most.”

With that, Travesty looked up again and into Viper’s eyes, searching for any bullshit, but she couldn’t find any. Viper really did mean every single word she had said and it was comforting but discomforting at the same time. Too many variables were happening all of the sudden. She could take on the scouting position, but from what she had heard from the Imperator, only one person could go. However, with both she and Viper working up the ranks, something might be able to be arranged. She still wasn’t sure if she could handle being near her daughters again, but she also didn’t want to regret the loss of an opportunity to know where they went off to. If she could somehow convince someone higher that she could be their guardian as they were inducted into the new society, it would be her one chance to at least give them a hint that their birth mother was still around, not dead. Yet.

And Travesty hated losing a chance at anything.

A grin spread across her face and Lexus could tell that Travesty was back again, a determined glint in her eye. It made her feel things for the War Girl that had been her lover for some time now. Not that she hadn’t before, but from the beginning their relationship had always been a more beneficial type one. It was just that when Travesty was confident and radiant, Lexus was always weak in those moments, just like she was now. She rushed over and helped Travesty get up as she knew that by now from all the sitting and laying around, her knee would be too stiff to function properly. Lexus couldn’t stop herself from kissing Travesty in several places on her face before finally deciding that she had gone a little overboard, but the affection seemed to be appreciated as Travesty held a hand up to cup Lexus’s face, thumb going over her lips before the hand was behind her neck, bringing their foreheads together. Viper gave them a moment as she knew what that gesture meant when Travesty did it. 

“Now, before we do anythin’ mate, I need a good wash to get this bloody shit off of me and Lexus. Mind joinin’ us? We got this way thanks to a War Boy gettin’ ‘is ‘ead split open and crunched by a machine and we was standing too close. The wanker sprayed everythin’ ‘e had onto us, and ‘onestly, I wish I never ‘ave to say that line ever again in me life.”

Viper cackled and had to bend over to catch her breath from laughing so much and it wasn’t long before Travesty and Lexus were the same way, although Lexus of course was much more quiet. 

“Aye, I can do that for sure, lass. Come on now, before the sun sets, that way you won’t have to try and dry in front of candles.”

“Ah, ‘s not like we haven’t gone to bed a soggy mess. Before. Ah, don’t give me that look, Vi, ‘s not what you’re thinking of. Maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a birthday!!! and then I was gonna do more angst and sadness but that'll come in a bit (aka soon)


	31. Things Fall Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happiness and stableness can only last so long as all of them find out.

She needed to take a deep breath. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been an escort before for the Gigahorse. Viper had done it a handful of times before, but this time was different because she knew exactly who was in it and why. Immortan Joe was taking his Daughters to the new alliance that had recently been created and with them was the Prime Imperator as well as Travesty who was accompanying them sans war paint so that she could appear more open and friendly. The Immortan and Prime Imperator were relying on her to comfort the girls as they were traded over. A few more preparations had to be done before they could all leave and each second wasted here was a second that Travesty could blow this for the both of them if she acted anything other than just a woman helping young children as they departed from their father to their future husband. Travesty had been a nervous wreck the entire night, bunking with Viper instead of Lexus, asking endless questions about motherhood and the like, shifting around noisily to try and get comfortable before finally falling asleep for a couple of hours before they needed to get up again and get ready. Viper had been lucky enough to ignore Travesty after a while and managed to catch more shut eye, but since Travesty was not a morning person, it was an uphill battle trying to help her get her war paint off and cleaned up in time before they needed to report to the Prime Imperator for duty. 

The lanky War Girl had been grateful at least, but still. She had been shaking real badly and her breathing just would not slow down no matter how many times Viper tried to calm her as she dressed Travesty in white clothing and gauze, creating a scarf with the latter to help hide her facial burn scars. Her twins of course would know who she was just from those distinct permanent markings and that was the plan. To have them recognize her from a few days prior as she gave hints about her relationship to them without making anything too obvious just to be safe. 

“I haven’t felt this naked in a long time,” Travesty muttered, her arms crossed under her chest as she walked along in step with Viper, making their way to the car bay that held the Gigahorse. Viper was just going along with her for support as the nervousness was also due to being incredibly close to the man that had hurt them all so long ago. “Dunno about you and how ya felt about yer attire, but all I can say is that I miss me pants somethin’ awful.”

“It won’t be for long, lass. I told Lexus when to expect us back so that she can help you get back into your paint and be on your merry way again.”

“Yeh, thanks for that, mate. I just hope...I mean, they’re…they’ll be okay, ya think?”

“Aye. If not, Joe will find out. Harm to his Daughters is a high offense to him, no matter who it is. He needs them to grow up as they’ll help carry on his-”

“Oi, now’s not the time to thinkin’ of that for them,” the lanky War Girl snapped, glaring intensely at Viper with no humor in her eyes. “They’re just kids, tiny tykes, ankle biters. I don’t want to think about ‘em needin’ to do anything other than...whatever it is kids do. Anything but carryin’ on his legacy.”

“Suit yerself, lass.”

“I will.”

That had been a a half hour ago. Viper now gripped the handles of her bike tightly as she waited for the signal to leave after Immortan Joe had finished his goodbye speech with his Daughters by his side. The Wretched around her were screaming his name after he finished, buckets and other things to capture water held firmly in their dirty and desperate hands, bodies moving forward ever so slowly in hopes that it was time for him to release the addictive Aqua Cola. When he did, Viper found herself licking her lips and her throat dry up. It seemed that she was more dehydrated than she had thought and reached to get her canteen before someone could notice and call her out on it. Luckily, it seemed the other War Boys and Imperators were just as soft as she was, subtly grabbing their rations to consume before their journey began. Once everything was finally settled, Viper and the other scout were on their way ahead of them, making sure that the coast was clear and safe from any potential dangers the wasteland had to offer them for the day. 

The trip went smoothly. Travesty had been able to spend time with her girls just before they were given away and even managed to learn their names. Faith and Fortuna. The same names she had given them. Well, slightly. Faith had her name changed from Fiona, which is why Travesty was worried that it had happened to both of them. Still, she was offended that Fiona hadn’t been good enough for the Immortan, although secretly she did think that Faith and Fortuna went along better than Fortuna and Fiona. However, Travesty did not reveal anything else that had gone on between them during the trip, and she intended to keep it that way until she wanted to. Viper respected that, understanding that if their roles had been switched, she wouldn’t have wanted to share details of her time with her children either, protective of the memories that should be theirs alone. 

And that was that. The sun had set hours ago when the finally came back to the Citadel. Lexus had been waiting patiently, choosing to work the repair bay closest to the Gigahorse, keeping a close eye on movement that meant that the Immortan was back with his posse. Once she and Travesty reunited, Viper left them with a quick goodbye, slipping off to check on Duncan. Niles wouldn’t let her near him tonight, but promised that she could return the next day, which she did. It did make her feel guilty knowing that she had the time to grow and to learn how to love her son in the way that she did while Travesty had to sit and deal with not knowing where her daughters were while at the same time resenting their father and resenting motherhood being forced upon her when being a mother was not something that she had wanted. But she also knew that their circumstances and views were different. There was nothing she could do to change what had happened to them all, she would just have to continue to go forward and continue to work with what she had, and while it not be much at the moment, she knew it wouldn’t be long until she was in a position to quietly start tearing down this place, piece by piece, little by little. 

__________

Another month went by before Savvy gave up hope all together. Each time they went out and investigated the land, sometimes even spending a night or two out there with War Boys that Niles trusted to help them out, there was nothing more than just endless emptiness and salt. So much salt, and so many bones. They even came across old ships that had obviously been stranded in place long before the apocalypse ended the old world. One ship seemed promising, but if there was anyone in there, Savvy ended up not feeling comfortable about entering. There was something off about it and if it freaked her out, then surely whatever was there was not what they were looking for. 

She became more depressed and eventually had trouble even moving out of her bunk. Caliper and Vic literally had to drag her out some days, ignoring the protesting and got her moving around and eating and drinking. Vic was determined not to lose someone else close to her so quickly, especially since Torque was getting worse, slipping away faster it seemed day by day, spending almost if not all of her time in the Blood Shed. Harker became more and more reckless, causing them all pain and grief whenever she came back around bruised and skin torn and bloody, usually on her arms. She hadn’t really been seeing Luc, hadn’t really been wanting to. She had been practicing endlessly with lancing and fighting and she had a few more fresh cuts down her arm where she had kept her kills. Or at least Vic hoped it was had instead of was. Harker rarely talked to them anymore and wasn’t too keen on sticking around with them either, choosing to hover over her sister when she wasn’t taking out her anger and energy on other people. Travesty had tried numerous times to reach out to her, to let her know that she was there for her and that while they might have their differences, she cared about the twins. Harker still didn’t care. Didn’t want to care, and even picked fights with Travesty on purpose until the War Girl finally gave up and went back to being cold and distant from the twins, telling Lexus that they weren’t her responsibility and never had been, yet there was no denying the hurt in her voice as she said it.

It seemed like everything was falling apart for all of them. The worst had been when Viper had gone to visit Duncan just like anytime before and had been greeted by her son with a huge grin on his face, excitement making him bounce on his toes and he just couldn’t keep still, making it hard for Viper to grab a hold of him to put him on her hip. She just had this feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach, but she pushed it aside, opting to ignore it and hoping that she was wrong about something being off. 

“Maw! I gotta new name today! Ye can’t call me Duncan anymore.”

Viper’s heart skipped a beat as she carried him away to the place that she always brought him to. “What do ye mean, love?” She asked carefully, not entirely sure of what the lad was talking about. It scared her though, making her break out a little in a sweat.

“Me friends say ‘m Gasket now,” Duncan was extremely proud of this, beaming and squirming around in her grip, wanting to get down and walk on his own. “They said that Duncan’s not a shine name.”

“Who told ye that?” Viper kept her voice as steady as she could, feeling her eyes water just a little bit, refusing to let him down now. She squeezed him a little tighter than necessary, and she knew that it wasn’t his fault, she had wanted him to grow up “normal” with the other War Pups, and she should have seen this coming sooner than she had anticipated. But the anger was starting to bubble up inside her and it was hard to stop from showing it. 

“Just some friends. Maw, what’s wrong?” Duncan stopped struggling against her, getting really quiet. He could tell that instead of being happy for him, she was upset. It didn’t make him feel good, not one bit. “Don’t ye like the name?”

“Nothin’, nothin’ at all. ‘s good to hear, love. Really, it is.” 

“But do ye like it?”

“Of course. It couldn’t be more perfect fer a young man like yerself. You’re growing up, is all. Makin’ me feel all old,” she forced a smile and blinked hard a couple of times, trying to get a grip on herself. “I’m jus’ gonna miss callin’ ye Duncan.”

It hadn’t gone well from there. With his mother agitated, Duncan slowly became cranky and wanted to go back to see his friends, telling her that he didn’t like being called Duncan, his name was Gasket now, it was Gasket, Gasket, Gasket. It took a lot of energy and strength to bring him back quietly, not wanting to attract a lot of attention towards her and her wailing Pup. He didn’t even say goodnight or goodbye to her when she finally put him down, just ran off. It was obvious then that she was truly starting to lose him. 

When the others save for Torque and Harker heard of the news, they banded together once again and attempted to lift her spirits up, but their usual activities that they used to do together didn’t seem to help. All Viper did was get piss poor drunk, then went off again to pick a bone with Niles. No one could stop her, not even when they all formed a barrier between her and the doorway, knowing that with her drunk and furious, Niles would be in a world of hurt when she got there. It didn’t take much though for her to cut through them, making them question if she really was a drunk as she seemed to be. Fortunately (for Niles), they managed to restrain her from getting any farther than a few meters past the entrance until she surrendered and stayed with them, disappointed mostly. The one person she had entrusted to take care of her son had failed her, letting him take on a new name and scrapping his old one. If her son decided to estrange himself completely from her, then she would just have march on regardless. Viper would have to heed her own words: Rejection was hard, but it happens, the best you can do is move on and let go. It just never crossed her mind that it would ever apply to her and her son. 

A few days after that, Vic, Savvy, and Caliper were in the repair bay, working on the truck to fix up some damage it had received from a poorly aimed thunder stick during a practice run. The sound of frantic running was getting closer and closer to them, causing them to look up and see Harker sprinting in their direction, jumping over obstacles and ducking out of anyone’s way, incredibly determined to reach them. Before any of them could ask what was wrong, she began yelling something incoherently. It made all three of drop what they were doing or holding (Caliper accidentally dropped the hood on Savvy’s hand, earning a well deserved curse) to run over to her. It was then that they noticed Luc and his lancer Magnus not far behind, also yelling, asking Harker to slow down. It instantly sent the others into a protective mode, Vic and Savvy grabbing ahold of the seemingly manic War Girl while Caliper got in between them and the approaching War Boys, warning them with her fists to not get any closer, which they didn’t, choosing instead to slow down and back off a bit. 

They were all patient with her as it took several minutes before Harker began making sense again, words just kept on jumbling and tossed around as she caught her breath and tried to explain herself, her entire body trembling against Vic and Savvy, her hands clenching and unclenching.

“Harker, what’s wrong, are they bothering you? Do you need help?”

“Yes, yes I do, ya need to come help!”

“Wh-”

“Torque’s gone!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP me


	32. Pushing Daisies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harker begins unravelling, lost without her twin until her biggest enemy, Travesty, manages to finally make some headway in their relationship.

The blood in the other three War Girls ran cold and it seemed the world just stopped all together as they stared in shock at the distressed twin, unable to move. The sounds of the repair bay seemed to be fading as the reality settled in and it was just them, the War Girls and two very concerned War Boys. They had lost one of their own. It was inevitable that this day would come, but it had happened too soon and totally (mostly) unexpectedly as the last time any of them had checked on her besides Harker, she seemed to have been doing relatively okay. Secretive, but okay. None of them were prepared and they could feel their eyes tearing up, not knowing what would come next. It was likely that Torque had known her time was coming and didn’t want to give anything away as she was already being drowned in attention thanks to her sister. But it should have been obvious and they were starting to feel guilty that they didn’t catch on before it happened.

Funerals or memorials were reserved for the Immortan’s Wives and children, however the latter were more private and it was really only him and the Wife that was the mother of the deceased descendent. Mirage knew of this the most out of all of them, but that was beside the point. The most important thing right now was hopefully retrieving the body and having their own funeral near the Citadel where they could all visit. If not, then Torque’s body might have been incinerated with all the other soft War Boys, too weak to go out onto the Fury Road for the last time at a chance to be Witnessed and guaranteed entrance into Valhalla, which meant that her ashes were mixed, making it impossible to even get something to remind Harker of her sister other than her favorite wrench.

Harker kept shifting her gaze between all of them, looking for some sort of response from any of them. Vic finally decided that she needed to say something as she noticed that no one else seemed to be able to say or do anything for Harker and she could tell that the surviving twin was getting agitated and about to leave them to either go find the other War Girls or to go do something drastic that none of them could stop her from doing. Like going up onto the top of the Citadel and jumping, something Vic knew had been crossing Harker’s mind lately as Torque had continued to slowly die. When Harker did come back to the bunks to sleep, which had been rarely, Vic stayed up all night eavesdropping and listening to her plans, hoping that she had just been bluffing and saying it out of frustration to no one in particular, but she could tell now that it wasn’t just an idea anymore. 

“Harker, we’re so sorry, do you need help finding her before it’s too late-”

“She’s gone, I can’t fucking find her and her bloodbag’s gone too! None of Organic’s Pups will tell me where she went and neither will the assistant War Boys despite Luc and Magnus asking them for me. I’m running out of options-”

“Wait, wait, wait,, hold on, back up, you mean she’s gone, as in not where she should be?” Vic glowered down at the other and put her hands on her hips while Savvy took a step back, letting go of Harker, confused and hurt. Relief wasn’t exactly what Vic was feeling, but she didn’t really know what else to call it. Annoyed wasn’t the right answer either. She looked at Savvy and saw that she was apparently feeling the same way as her, but she still couldn’t figure out the word for it. Indignant? Harker roughly grabbed both of their wrists and pulled them back closer to her, throwing both War Girls off and it was a poorly timed reminder that Harker’s strength was often underestimated by everyone. Savvy managed to wriggle her hand loose and nursed it as Harker had grabbed her freshly wounded one by accident. Caliper put her guard down and looked Luc and Magnus, letting them know that it was okay for them to come over if they wanted. They opted to hang back, starting to talk amongst themselves in hushed tones while Caliper took her place beside Vic, eyebrow raised, ready for an explanation.

“Yeh, but she could be gone gone too, as in dead, I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know! She wasn’t there when I woke up! I need help!”

“Okay, okay! Harker, you really need to calm down-”

“You calm down!” The shove Vic received was hard enough for her to hit the hood of her truck and from the way she landed along with the force, she could have snapped her back. That ticked Vic off and she immediately went into fight mode after she reoriented herself, advancing on Harker with the intention of bringing some sort of sense back into her. “You gonna help me or what, Vic? ‘Cause my sister is somewhere out there either dying or dead and you and everyone else here is doing shit!”

“Harker!” Vic grabbed onto the younger War Girl’s shoulders and shook her probably rougher than she should have, but she really needed the other to get it together so that she could figure out what exactly was going on. “Seriously, you really need to calm down and listen to me. Have you looked around and checked every other possible place?”

“WHY’D’YA THINK I CAME TO GET YOU, YA BLOODY-” 

“Harker!” 

“WHAT? WHAT DO YOU OF ALL PEOPLE WANT!” Harker was let go by Vic and she spun around, seething at this point, knowing exactly who it was that had called out to her and it wasn’t helping matters any.

Travesty, Lexus, Mirage, Shelby, and Viper came rushing over. All the yelling and the start of a fight had brought a lot of unwanted War Boy attention to them and news travelled fast apparently. Vic shot Travesty a nasty glare, and both Savvy and Caliper tensed up. The other five War Girls approached with caution, with Travesty holding her hands up, focused more on Harker than anyone else in the immediate area.

“Torque is okay, she’s fine-”

“Why and how do you know,” the young War Girl narrowed her eyes, suspicious of Travesty and moved closer to her Boys, letting both Luc and Magnus put a hand on her shoulders, which seemed to help her relax a little bit. “Why do ya gotta be such a fuckin’ creep? Bugger off already! How many times do I gotta say that to you until ya understand?”

Travesty huffed. “Because Harks, I-Look I have my reasons, now come on, she’ll be wantin’ to see ya after all she’s been through.”

“No! First ya gotta tell me why you know where she is and what she’s been through! Does Organic have anything to do with this?”

“Firstly Harks, she’s been in the Blood Shed the whole time, ya nit wit, she can’t leave ‘cause of ‘er condition. Secondly, you’ll see soon enough, and yeh, of course Organic has somethin’ to do with this mess.”

“Mess?” that was enough to catch her off guard and Travesty used the opportunity to take Harker’s hand, leading her somewhere rather confidently, which was also throwing Harker off. Instead of fighting it, Harker quickly fell instep with the War Girl she had been pushing away and antagonizing lately to the point that they both had been actively avoiding each other until now. To top it all off, she seemed more curious and concerned rather than irrationally angry at everyone and ready to punch anyone in the face. The others followed a fair distance behind. A few trailed off, such as Viper, Luc and Magnus, Mirage and Shelby, and Lexus, who all had other duties they needed to get back to doing. Vic promised them all that she would get back in touch with them after they figured out what exactly was going on.

“Is she okay? What happened to her, why do you know?”

“Shhhh, you’ll see soon enough.”

“Why won’t you tell me? Is she mad at me?”

“Nah, maybe a li’l annoyed ‘cause you’ve been rather clingy to her lately-”

“Clingy?”

“And ‘cause ya won’t believe me otherwise, Harks. But take me word for it, you’re gonna be impressed.”

They came into the Blood Shed not that long after, Harker hanging on to Travesty for dear life, even going so far as to hold on to her arm just like she did with Torque whenever the two of them were in trouble or nervous about something. 

It was quiet there, deathly quiet. War Boys were strung about, the life waning from them every passing second. Some of the more lucky ones were getting top ups and would be on their way again in a few hours, and some were even chatting with their blood bags, despite the fact that most of the unwilling donors were passed out. Just down the ways, the sacred alter of Steering Wheels shone in the sunlight, and Harker took a moment to look for Torque’s, knowing that if hers was still there, then Torque was still around, too.

“Shouldn’t be too long now, love,” Travesty looked down at Harker and smiled gently, pushing the other forward. 

That was when Harker noticed two War Boys carrying her sister out from the medical bay where Organic performed his surgeries and other stuff that she didn’t care to know about. Torque looked incredibly pale even in her War Pain and was completely out of it, her eyes closed. She was quickly hooked up to a blood donor, and it looked like her old one must’ve either bit the dust or was being used by someone else. Harker couldn’t care less about that, the most important thing was to check on her sister and to look at that...bandage...around her chest and neck, the side where the bumps had been. 

Had been. There wasn’t anything poking out from underneath the bandages from what Harker could see, causing her to gasp loudly and let out a small, choked scream as she realized that Torque had gone and done something stupid after all, finally. 

“Tori?” 

One of Torque’s eyes fluttered open briefly, and she turned her head towards the familiar voice, trying her best to focus in on it. She lit up at the sight of her sister and began coughing a little before answering. “Harker?”

“Tori!” Harker ran over and ignored the harsh looks from the assistant War Boys and Pups, just happy and ecstatic to be with her twin again and it wasn’t long before she was coaxing Torque to try and sit up, something Torque clearly didn’t want to do anytime soon.

“Come on, let’s leave ‘em to it,” Travesty whispered to the others and the four of them left the twins behind, going off in their separate ways once outside the Blood Shed. Vic nodded at Travesty just before they returned to the repair bay, and she got a smirk back, one that she knew meant to not worry about anything and for once, Vic smirked back, earning a genuine smile, but two annoyed glances. 

Back with the twins, Harker seemed to be asking never ending questions and kept on touching the bandages even though Torque kept weakly batting her hands away from them. 

“I couldn’t tell ya ‘cause then you would wanna hover around Organic while he did this.”

“I wouldn’t’ve-”

“Har, he’s been complainin’ that you’re here too long as it is when you aren’t here. So technically he hasn’t been complain’ much, but you never listen to him when he tells ya to bugger off.”

Her sister scoffed. “I can’t just leave you alone here, Tori.”

“You’re gonna have to start. The more rest I get, the quicker I can leave. He removed what he could, said that it was deep enough that he needed to cut through my chest to poke around there for anything he might’ve missed. Said it might be in my lungs. It’s gonna come back though, maybe even more aggressive, but for now...I’m not really half-life anymore. Er, I mean I still have the cancer, but it’s not as awful? ‘m not too confident about my status right now.”

“You’re- you mean-I don’t know what to say, I don’t have words for this-”

“Yet you keep talking.”

“Oi, excuse you, I just endured a few hours without knowin’ whether or not you were dead or-”

“Harker?”

“Yeh?”

“Shut up,” Torque grinned and closed her eyes, turning her head to the side. Harker stayed until she could tell that her sister had fallen asleep. After that, she crept away, feeling anxious, but knew that things were definitely starting to look up. From the shadows, Travesty breathed a sigh of relief before leaving herself. Crisis adverted. She hadn’t even known that Torque had been seen today, but she was good at betting, and the odds that the sickly War Girl had died in the night were very low. Low, but still there. She thanked her lucky stars that she had overheard a conversation about an experimental operation, took one last look at Torque, then left to fulfill her duties. The final push for becoming an Imperator was just around the bend and while she cared for the twins, she would not let them get in her way towards her one hope to getting back home after all these years.

Mostly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of stuff has happened lately and this chapter was also hard for me to write. But! Here we are, finally u.u is the title a cop-out or  
> I feel like I keep talking about Travesty and while I'm sorry not sorry about it, the others will get their chance to shine   
> Also, theoutsidebeckons.tumblr.com if u wanna rp, i'm getting that set up :v


	33. Nightmares Are Made of These

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally an Imperator, Viper and Ulrich go out for a night run which then turns into a fair warning for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet dreams are made of these anyone? Bueller? ok

And so Viper, Travesty, and Shelby were inducted into Imperator-hood during a very public ceremony honoring War Boys and Girls that had shown absolute devotion to Immortan Joe and went above and beyond in their duties to serve Him and the Citadel, protecting the citizens from outside forces and securing their domain with a great ferocity that even the nearby enemies had thought twice about attempting any attacks to gain food, water and/or other essentials. They were also noted to be amongst the most intelligent and obedient, and while the obedience part didn’t sit well with Travesty and Shelby, Viper took it all in, knowing fully well that while this praise was superficial and unwanted for her and the others, it was a good thing to have on her side as they began their planning. From what she could tell, time would go by slowly for them all before they could earn complete trust. Hell, it took Furiosa years after her final attempt at escaping before she had been allowed to drive the War Rig again for supply runs and the like. She knew that they would have watchful eyes on them for awhile, like a silent probationary period while the ex-War Boys wouldn’t have to worry about anything other than being respected by their lower ranks, which wouldn’t be hard at all unless they were too soft to handle their jobs. It made her glad that she had been able to convince Ulrich to join her. She couldn’t risk fully exposing the War Girls’ huge plan, but she had been growing rather fond of him and felt it necessary to keep someone who was aware but not too aware to help cover their tracks. He was an outsider anyways, and she was making progress in getting him to question his ties with everything he had previously known. 

With their newly appointed status, they could shed their white War Paint and wear new clothing along with being allowed to begin growing out their hair again. Shelby was the most excited about that last part as without her old War Paint, she wouldn’t be able to withstand the sun for long without her thick dirty blonde mane blocking the harmful rays. But until her hair was long enough again to provide her the coverage she so desperately needed, the unfortunate news was that she was to work more of the interior of the Citadel, especially with checking on the greens just outside of the vault as it would provide her the most protection. It would be a new challenge for her, but she assured Mirage and the others that she knew she could do it. She would need to. She also knew that she would likely switch off with Furiosa on keeping watch of the Wives, a task she wasn’t too sure she would be able to do. If not, Travesty volunteered to be her backup. Viper had told them both blatantly that she did not want to be close to them and it was up to the other two to sort out guard duties and attending services. She did not elaborate further as to why. 

Almost immediately after the ceremony, Viper disappeared into a testosterone filled sea of loud, obnoxious War Boys celebrating their peers and brothers in arms that had been Chosen, and begun her search for Ulrich. He would be inducted the next time as he still needed to prove himself as well as reach the days required to be considered full-life, basically the only major requirement that mattered when it came to becoming an Imperator. As she looked and asked around, she could feel the energy of the Citadel rising into a frenzy as the Doof Wagon was getting set up for a concert, and she knew that the drugs and booze was already being busted out and making their rounds. She also knew that she would probably be getting better booze than rotgut now that her status allowed her access to more precious commodities. It had been too long since she had a proper drink and the thought of better beer or alcohol was getting more enticing by the minute. If Ulrich agreed, then she knew exactly what they would be doing later that night. 

Recently nothing major had been happening; it was true that their closest enemies, the Buzzards and Rock Riders had not been making any moves, choosing instead to fight amongst each other. Any caravans or large groups of people (even small groups) that had been looking to trade with them or ask for shelter had become a rare event. Survivors might not be as abundant as they once were, and it made her wonder what would happen if the new Wife would fail to produce an heir or turn out to be sick and contaminated, even though she had found out she had been raised with the intention of becoming a breeder, which meant she knew of nothing but a life of comfort and protection. Young, healthy, and beautiful women were beginning to become scarce, the fallout of the apocalypse leeching itself onto everything it could, poisoning people more and more over time. Of course now that she had been exposed more to the elements, she might also be heavily infected with radiation, but it didn’t matter now that she was not a Milking Mother and that she was also not a Wife. Oh, she would make him pay for basically kicking her out of her own domain just as she was becoming a vital asset. If only his ego wasn’t as big, she would still be by his side, or it would have been more like he would have been by her side. Whether or not that would have been ideal was not really a concern for her, she still should have been…

Should have, could have, would have. It didn’t matter anymore and she couldn’t believe she was still thinking like this. She just knew that she would be by his side again soon enough, she was intending to become either another Prime Imperator, or the Prime Imperator. Whatever happened, she would remind him why he had valued her all those years and make him realize letting her go was his second biggest mistake after letting Furiosa live. After all, if it were not for her, she and the other War Girls would not be where they were today. 

By the time she had found her driver, he was drying off, getting ready to put on a fresh coat of War Paint while his clothing dried in the leftover light of the day in the setting sun. She took him in, admiring his skin, almost as dark and black as hers, damp with tiny droplets glistening in the gas lamps. She sighed, letting a small, wistful smile appear on her lips briefly before interrupting him as he appeared deep in thought about something.

“If I were nae inviting ye tae go outside with me, then I’d tell ye you’re fine as ye are.” 

Startled, Ulrich almost slipped from turning around so fast to face who spoke to him. Viper swiftly caught hold of him and helped the poor War Boy balance. When he realized who it was, he gave her a lopsided grin, not bothering to acknowledge that she might be holding onto him longer than she needed to. He welcomed the warmth and took a tiny step closer to her before replying.

“Who says that I couldn’t survive out there like this for the night? Me and Magnus had a sort of similar situation happen to us wayyy back. Got caught in a sandstorm during a night patrol, had to wait it out.”

“You mean you were naked and that your skin was damp?” Viper asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow and smirking. 

“’m pretty sure there was a logical explanation…” Ulrich frowned, trying to remember exactly what had happened before it popped up in his mind. “Oh, I was runnin’ a fever. And tryin’ to sleep in the Joe forsaken car wasn’t comfortable. We had to use somethin’ and it just so happened to be our pants.”

“Caught in a sandstorm, the only shelter being your car, I assume, and you were sick?” 

“Well…”

“I will not press you further, mo chridhe.”

She noticed that not a lot of other War Boys were in the pools or showers. They all knew they were going to be getting down and dirty for the next few nights, so what did it matter to clean themselves until after everything subsided again? 

“Let me help you with your paint after you go leave your clothes out. Then when you’re ready, meet me in the garage by your car. I want to have a private word with you, War Boy,” Viper smiled coyly and went to prepare the paint mix that he preferred. 

“Yes’m!”

It might have been an abuse of power, but honestly? She didn’t really care. She was an Imperator now and she could do what she liked. Using the excuse of a night patrol with a War Boy she had full faith in under her command, they left, smuggling out rotgut (not too much and definitely nothing too potent. Ulrich had to drive after all) and blankets as well as weapons in case of emergency. There was only three other two man team going out tonight. Everyone else was too busy celebrating. However, she did know that one of the Immortan’s sons, Corpus Colossus would be keeping watch and alerting Joe of anything strange. With this in mind, it was clear that they would need to find a private shelter that could still be easily located, probably by smoke and she would position their car so that it would just be within range so that Corpus would assume that that was where they would be setting up camp.

They found the perfect spot not long after twilight. It was not too close to the Citadel, but no where close to enemy terrain which meant if anyone came after them, it was their right to utterly shred them. She left a marker for them to come back to, a kind of flag that consisted of both of their scarves tied together that buried halfway in the sand. They made their rounds, with Viper taking intensive notes of their surroundings, but so far any telltale signs of Buzzards hadn’t shown up. It gave her some relief, but also made her feel like she should be extra cautious now. A night like this was an excellent opportunity for an ambush, as everyone within around 13 kilometers were bound to hear the Doof Wagon performing, a sure sign that the Citadel’s guard would be at it’s lowest. But for now, their camp would suffice. Later when they returned, they set up the blankets and made a small fire to help keep them warm as well as cook their rations for the night. After a few drinks, they finally settled down, a flare in their reach in case of emergency.

“When I was a wee lass, wandering the wasteland with my family and clan, we used to tell each other stories of places called Ireland and Scotland and Wales. My family are Scots. Highlanders. Proud lot we were. I wouldn’t mind if I met another Scot out here. Miss talkin’ without worrying about others being able to hear me. I just have a hard time remembering all of their voices now,” Viper got lost in her mind, trying to hold onto the fleeting flashbacks of her family. Some faces she could still recognize; others were just blobs. As the years went on, more and more people became blotchy specimens. She noticed her father was one of them now; a blob with an eyepatch and beard and mustache that he kept well groomed. At least her mother was still there, in full detail.

Ulrich had no idea what she was talking about and shifted uncomfortably. Ireland and Scotland sounded mystical; places that could never exist and probably never existed. He drank some more of his rotgut, finishing up the bottle and tossed it into the pile. He thought about drinking another but he wasn’t sure if he should. Viper seemed to be very far off and it disturbed him. She was always so aware of everything. Her vulnerability around him made him feel honored and scared at the same time. Could he handle this? Could he handle her opening up to him? He sat there, contemplating and listened to the wind howl around them, threatening to extinguish their already failing fire. 

A few minutes went by and Viper still seemed to be far away. Fortunately, he could tell that she was slowly coming back, and then finally, she shook her head and glared at her bottle. 

“I hate alcohol. I can hold it rather well but I can’t control my thoughts like I can when I’m sober. Shit,” She tossed the bottle aside, hard, ignoring the fact that the remaining contents spilled everywhere and scattered their pile.

“What kind of stories?” Ulrich ventured. He was feeling slightly afraid of her, but he could handle it. He was sure of it. He had been among his brothers long enough to know that she was just frustrated. 

“Lots of kinds. Depends on what kind of mood I’m in,” She said bitterly, not looking at him. She leaned back, draping her blanket behind her, resting on her elbows and glanced at him. “And I’m not in the mood to tell you anythin’ happy, Ricky.”

“You don’t have to tell any stories-”

“Oh, but I do,” Viper looked at him in a way that made his skin crawl. She really was starting to wander off into dangerous territory, but she wasn’t asking him for help. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He could handle this. “You’re curious now. Ye probably don’t even know what the bloody hell Ireland or Scotland is. Neither do I,” Viper began searching her pockets until she found what she was looking for. A horse carving Travesty had given her for her birthday over a year ago. She squinted at it before showing it to Ulrich.

“I’ll start with the legend of the kelpie. A demon, devil-like thing. Takes the shape of a horse. Do you know what a horse looks like?”

“Is it this?” He asked, intrigued, holding a hand out to examine it. She placed it gently into his hands, warning him through a look not to break it. 

She looked away, back into the night. “Aye, it be true. A kelpie takes the shape o’ a horse. A creature with a beautiful mane and gorgeous tail, dependin’ on the breed. This is one that a close friend of mine made. I could show you others some time, Ulrich. I think you would like ‘em. Strong animals they are. ‘specially the stallions, although the mares are ones you need to watch out for. They don’t call bad dreams nightmares fer nothin’.”

“I’ve never had a bad dream. All my dreams are of me dying and going to Valhalla to join my mates and McFeast with all of the other fallen heroes who rose back up again. Other than that, I don’t dream of anything. Just sleep.”

“A sad life to live if that’s all you dream about,” Viper sighed. “But it’s not your fault. It will never be any of you Boys’ faults. 

“So, kelpies. Beautiful creatures they are. They lure in their victims by the water, usually a great big body of water, deep and mysterious, giving you the feeling of tranquility with just a hint of despair. They like pretending to be something they’re not. Kelpies lure in their victims with their beauty an’ usefulness. If you’re tired an’ have been walking on foot, here is a wonderful opportunity to mount a horse an’ ride off, giving yourself a well deserved break. 

“You approach the creature cautiously. If you scare it off, there goes your gifted opportunity. Fortunately, it looks up, not frightened, but interested. It lets you get closer an’ closer. Soon you can feel its breath against your hand as you reach out to touch its muzzle to calm it.

“The kelpie doesn’t care who you are. A lad or lass. Man or child. Soon as you touch it the kelpie, the most dangerous touch being that you mounted it, it takes you. You begin to melt into it, Ulrich.” 

Ulrich had a hard time trying to imagine the animal she was talking about. This little thing didn’t look too threatening, but he kept his mouth shut and listened, not wanting to disrupt her. The melting part did disturb him greatly, reminded of the melted flesh that sometimes bound itself together to metal and cloth during some historic deaths. 

As he tried to picture the scenario she was telling him, she whipped her head around, a strange gleam in her eye as she continued, vaguely threatening him. He backed up a bit against the rocky wall as she adjusted herself, scooting a little closer to him, practically crawling towards him. She didn’t look like herself as her face had darkened and her voice had changed. It was more clipped, her r’s more rolled, and some of the words a little phlegmy. He had gotten used to it by now whenever this happened, but he also knew that this meant she wanted to let go of her control on her emotions, her true self showing through the barrier she made to accommodate others. He gulped, wary, but continued to listen and stood his ground. 

“It will then drag ye into the loch, the water filling yer lungs. Ye scream, ask for God ta forgive ya an’ yer silly li’l error. But ye will find no forgiveness under the loch. Nay, ye’ll only find darkness, the sun fadin’ fast in the distance, an’ the beautiful creature that trapped an’ drowned ya, proud o’ itself. As you die, it watches ye, silently. Reminds ye o’ yer mistake to trust such a soft an’ pretty li’l thing.”

Ulrich stared at her, in absolute awe and terrified beyond belief. She was changing before his very eyes and he was very aware of why she was telling him this story. But if she was going to be his demon, then he wasn’t backing out of it now. Couldn’t back out. He had strong feelings for her and a bond between her son that would only be broken if she wanted it to end. And he did not want it end and he did not want to lose her. He knew that if he left her like this, she wouldn’t come back for him, especially now that she was an Imperator, a status above his. She had more important things to do besides continue to be interested in him.

“Ach, this was...this was a bloody mistake. ’m sorry, Ulrich, but I should get some rest,” She shook her head again, and whatever was occupying her body before was gone. She was the Viper that he knew once more. Ulrich didn’t know what to make of this sudden shift, but she was leaving and it was too soon. He reached out and grabbed her arm.

“Don’t you think it’s a little early? I mean-” He just wanted to spend some more time with her, but she gave him a look that meant it was time to take their sleeping shifts with her going first for a few of hours, then him. He let her go and looked down apologetically. Without warning, he felt a hand rub the top of his head affectionally before she lifted his chin up to face her again. They were close enough to each other that he could smell the alcohol in her breath, making his heart skip a beat. Any other signs of being drunk were very faint. She would remember everything in the morning which meant she meant every word that left her mouth thus far.

“Wake me when the moon is slightly off center. Then get some sleep, mo chridhe. Tha gaol agam ort.”

She left him wondering what she had said at the end, but also wishing that she spoke what he assumed her native tongue more to him. He sighed and pulled the blanket around himself closer and kept a sharp eye out on the horizon, hand on the flare, his mind desperately fighting to keep focus on the task at hand, and not on her words. Her words always seemed to haunt him no matter what he did.

It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh Viper doesn't actually know a whole lot of Scottish Gaelic. Just what her mother and father said mostly, to her and to each other. Gaelic in general wasn't really spoken in her clan as it was becoming a lost language between all of them. But she technically knows the important ones :v  
> I also feel like I should do something mother related for mother's day, but also I kind of don't cos I would probably focus on Travesty and her two sets of twins that she feels torn about. Unless u want that idk but i also kind of feel like that should be spaced out for later. Anyways, enjoy!


	34. The Past is the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Torque and Harker are starting to part more and Mirage brings up Vic and Travesty's complicated relationship, much to Caliper and Savvy's chagrin.

“Ya know, Shelby never struck me to be the bossy type.”

“That makes two of us.”

“Three.” 

“Adding another makes four.”

“‘m glad you know how to count. And you guys clearly haven’t spent a lot of time with her then,” Mirage chuckled, taking the canvas bag filled to the brim with potatoes from Caliper and placing it inside the War Rig. Another supply run and trade was being prepped for the next day, and with Shelby being in charge of everything green, she had ordered Mirage to take four Girls with her to make sure that everything was handled correctly, so Mirage had recruited Torque, Harker, Savvy, and Caliper to help her. If she wasn’t overseeing the whole operation, she would be doing it herself. All of it. Mirage had no problem with even imagining such a thing occurring. “She’s been like this since we’ve met. She’s just been shy about it, is all.”

The way they had it set up was that Torque and Harker would retrieve items from the buckets the Green Thumbs and helping War Boys lowered down onto their platform on their level. From there, they would bring it to the others to inspect before each bag was carefully placed inside strategically so that everything would fit nicely and not run the chance of spilling or bumping into each other violently if anything ever happened. Nothing really ever did however, but still. Shelby really wanted to make sure that everything made it to their destination with as little damage as possible. Even if she didn’t like their allies that much, they were still people that needed to eat, and citizens like the Wretched that needed as much nourishment as they could possibly get. No one deserved to starve, no matter who they were. Plus, it was an excuse to steal some extra food to either bargain with or just keep for their own sake.

Savvy tossed a potato over her shoulder that she didn’t like, completely missing their growing pile, earning a glare from Caliper for being careless, but she purposefully ignored her. “Maybe if you two weren’t constantly messin’ around with each other-”

“I’m gonna stop ya right there, mate, you know you’ve had plenty of time to get to know her better. She’s always been like this, especially with plants. Plants are just...her specialty, ya know?”

“Yeah, well, she’s real obsessive over ‘em, how do ya even stand it, Mira?” Harker tossed another potato in their reject pile, although she had tossed it because most of it had been eaten. Now it was her turn to be glared at by Caliper, but in return she stuck her tongue out, earning an eye roll from both Caliper and Torque. 

“Well, everyone deserves to have a hobby, don’t they?” Mirage countered, leaving them for a second to put her bag in its place. When she came back, the twins had gone to get the last of the greens, leaving Caliper and Savvy picking through their bags, bored and almost certainly wishing they were with Vic, wherever she was. Mirage realized that it was odd for them to have agreed to this without her. The twins were bad when it came to dependency, but the one thing that was never really talked about was the trio. 

“I probably should’a asked earlier, but where the hell is Vic? You three all right? She’s not with Travesty is she?” 

“Nah, she’s...somewhere,” Savvy huffed, suddenly really interested in one potato that didn’t appear to be blemished at all.

“Vic told us to go do stuff on our own for a bit. She’s up to something, but she and Travesty have long since toned down their...friendship,” Caliper said cautiously, not sure herself what to call it. Mirage made a face and sat down in front of them, bringing her knees to her chest to hold. 

“Friendship my arse.”

“Oi, just ‘cause you knew about what was goin’ on between ‘em long before we did doesn’t mean you get to keep throwing that in our faces,” Savvy spat, throwing the last reject potato harder than she should have. “You should’a told us anyways!”

“I just didn’t think it was any of my bloody business-”

“But it was! Travesty’s your best friend, she told ya everythin’, we had to find out about ‘em the hard way.”

“Can we get past this already? I’ve apologized every time you two bring it up! I didn’t know you didn’t know ‘cause we all thought it was bloody damn obvious to not know!”

Savvy just scowled and made a sort of growling noise in the back of her throat, but didn’t push it any further. Caliper rubbed the disgruntled War Girl’s back, but didn’t say anything either, keeping what she felt inside right where it was; inside, as there was no point starting an argument right now. As much as the both of them felt betrayed by Vic when they had found out she was still seeing her former lover in private at the beginning of their relationship, it was in the past now, and Vic and Travesty had in fact decided to be friendly towards each other, only getting together when they needed to. Travesty had moved on with Lexus and Vic had hopefully moved on with them. Hopefully. Of course she had, there was no way for Vic to be seeing Travesty behind their backs, especially since lately Lexus had been more aggressive with keeping Travesty to herself.

The sound of scuffling got all of their attentions completely, only for them to try and stifle their laughter as they watched Torque try her best to support her side of the humungous crate that contained not only the last of the greens, but also appeared to hold several rations of water, making it heavier than it should have been. Harker on the other hand, or hands, literally didn’t seem to be breaking a sweat, and was clearly annoyed about how slow Torque needed to go. The scene was good enough to ease tension and Caliper got up to help take the Torque’s side, but because of her height, it threw Harker off. If Savvy and Mirage hadn’t scrambled to help right it, Shelby would have eaten them alive for ruining what she deemed to be the most important crate for the run. 

“Oi, we had that!” Harker crossed her arms and watched as the crate was loaded without being inspected. This was Furiosa and her crew’s own personal stash in case of an emergency, should there be any, which was basically never. Torque just rolled her eyes again and rubbed at the stitches on her chest, a little winded. While she didn’t really have anything affecting her lungs or throat anymore, she was still out of shape from not being able to do much when she got sick, and since she had been lifting for most of the day, she felt like her chest was about to burst from both lack of air and the fact that the huge cut Organic made to get to her lungs was still not all the way healed enough for the stitches to be taken out yet. They were threatening to pop any second now and she tried not to make it too obvious that her entire body was starting to scream in pain.

“Harker-we-I think-Well, I know for a fact-I’m done,” Torque crumpled onto the ground and weakly reached for her canteen strapped on to her left thigh of her pants. Soon as she unscrewed it to take a drink, Harker gasped and rushed out of her view, letting her know that either someone or two had appeared. She hid her annoyance and just chugged the rest of her water, not minding the fact that it would be all she would get that day. 

“Hey! What’re ya doin’ here? Something happen?”

“Nah, just came to see how you were up to’,” Magnus answered, not minding the kiss on his cheek that Harker gave him, although he refrained from anything more that she tried to plant on him. Magnus was just like that though, never really one for outright affection. Noticing that the other War Girls were shifting about uncomfortably in front of them, he nodded to acknowledge them and smiled at their waves in response. Then he began looking around and pointed to the potatoes, a wordless question passing between him and the young War Girl. 

Harker waved her hand nonchalantly, locking her other arm around his shoulders. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll save some for you, big boy. Well, I’m doin’ great. My sis on the other hand, she might be bumpless, but she’s lazy as shit now.” 

“Tch, thanks Har, I’ll remember that later when we do our drivin’ practices.” 

“And I’ll remember that you’ll remember so that I can put heavy duty glue on my gloves to stick to my perch better.” 

“Hurray.”

“Anyways, there’s gotta be another reason why you’re here,” Harker turned away from Magnus and let him go, returning to sit down next to Torque. He never really sought her out when she was with her friends; as a matter of fact, she was the one to go to them when she wanted to. And if they were missing her, it was always Luc that went off to find her. This was a switch that told her that something was definitely wrong. 

“I need ya to come with me to go find Lucy. He went off on a rant about somethin’ that I did-”

“And what did you do?”

He shrugged. “Nothin’.”

“Nothin’ that you know of, Mags.”

“Don’t call me that,” the War Boy made a face and then walked over, offering her a hand up that she took reluctantly. “Come on, bolts for brains, we gotta go find him.”

“Aw, fine. Come on Tori, let’s go find-”

“No, just you, Harker.”

The twins looked at each other, then back at Magnus, their suspicious expressions mirroring one another, unnerving everyone. They still denied it whenever it was brought up, but they definitely were like the same person at times. 

“Why?” they asked simultaneously, in the exact same tone. 

“No real reason. But it he’s with Niles, then you know it’s gonna be one helluva show,” was all the War Boy said before leaving them, walking away leisurely, definitely expecting her to follow him. She was about to when Torque rushed to her sister’s side, grabbing at Harker’s shoulder and they too had a silent conversation between them, although it was much more subtle and private. Finally, Torque huffed and let go, stepping away and kicked at the dust on the floor. 

“Fine, whatever.”

“Thanks Tori. I’ll tell ya everythin’ when I get back, but Luc is definitely with Uncle Niles if he ain’t with Magnus. And if this is what I think it is, well...it’s about damn time. I’ll see ya later, guys!” Harker rushed off after her War Boy and climbed onto his shoulders, something that he seemed to expect as soon as he heard her footsteps as he bent down enough for her to jump on his back easier. The War Girls tried to get Torque to talk about what was said, but she wouldn’t spill, not even when she was bribed with more painkillers and/or rotgut. So they packed up their gear and extra food and collectively decided to take their breaks. Mirage and Caliper tagged the guzzoline crew in to get to work on maintenance for the huge tank meant for gas provided by Gastown and then went about their day, splitting up for their duties. 

When Harker came back to the bunks later that night, she was giddy and couldn’t contain her glee, yet only spoke to Torque about the events that took place. Torque had been told not to share with the others, leaving the other War Girls to start imagining what had happened after Harker left with Magnus. Whatever it was, a certain disgusting War Boy was never seen by any of them ever again, not that any of them really noticed or cared.  
__________

Down in their shared space, Vic met with Travesty. She hadn’t told her two partners where she was going because she didn’t want to upset them by being all the way truthful, plus she was getting a little tired of Caliper being personally offended about every single time she even mentioned Travesty’s name. There was nothing going on between them anymore, and while they both had reasons to not really trust her, she thought that maybe by now things would be better. Soon as she saw the lanky ex-War Girl walk in, she froze in place, but regained her composure. It was going to take some getting used to seeing her like this without all her war paint and dressed in different clothing. 

“Gotta make this quick Vic, I slipped off as soon as I could but I’ve got a lot of work to be doin’ right now.”

“I know Trav, that’s why I’m getting right to the point. I want to know how long you think you need to defend your status as an Imperator. If we cut things too short, we risk losing everything, if we wait too long then we’ve lost the only opportunity to escape. At least without causing a lot of problems and attracting a large amount of danger.”

“Right, right. Well, let’s put it this way. Vi is trying ‘er best to get a feel for the current politics of things right now, but we’re on probation, as she puts it. Furiosa did a number durin’ ‘er last attempt, so they gotta make sure that we’re not gonna try anythin’ similar.”

“And you are going to talk to Furiosa about helping her and the others go back to the Green Place?”

“I will, Vic, I will, just...I need some time to figure out exactly what ‘m gonna say to ‘er. She’s not exactly friendly an’ neither ‘m I,” Travesty huffed and leaned back against the rocks, crossing her feet and put her hands in the pockets of her new pants, eyes focused on the ground. When she talked again after gathering her thoughts, her voice was quiet, bordering on hoarse. “I mean...What if she doesn’t believe me? I don’t remember much...I can’t even remember me mum’s name...me clan’s name...I’ve got nothin’. Just the general principle of what it meant to be in The Green Place. It meant safety, food, water, family...an’ the importance of motherhood to keep everything balanced.” 

Vic smiled softly and came a little closer to her friend, but kept some distance between them. “Travesty, trust me. She will. She knows there were others. She knows that she wasn’t the only one stolen away during the night.”

“It wasn’t durin’ the night, Vic. Not for ‘er, not for me,” Travesty spat. “They came for us with full force any bloody damn time they wanted. I don’t really know what she went through, but when I was taken, they had started poisoning our water. Wanted us to be desperate. And it worked, Vic. We had to start makin’ preparations for leavin’. Some chose to stick around...but crows were starting to appear. Me mum and I were plannin’ on leaving with the next group as some scouts had found a new place to try an’ cultivate but…”

The newly appointed Imperator looked up at the ceiling and shook her head, blinking her eyes fast so that the tears didn’t start flowing down her face. Getting oil in her eyes was the last thing that she wanted, on top of letting her feelings get the best of her yet again. 

“When the bullets stopped flyin’ around, she was gone, along with some of the others. I didn’t get the chance to mourn ‘er loss. They just grabbed me an’ flung me into the nearest car. Put a bag over me ‘ead, told me to shut up, then after a few years of bein’ traded back an’ forth, I was ‘ere. To be a bloody prized breeder,” She paused for a moment to let it sink in again for both of them, then continued on. “Vic...you’ve been there for me the longest, and I really do value yer opinion. Is this truly the right thing to do? What if we’ve lost everyone out there by now? What would be the point then?”

Vic took several moments to think of an answer, and not just one that Travesty would want to hear. They had known each other for so long now, that the lanky Imperator would know exactly when she was being bullshitted or when Vic was sugar coating something. 

“Trav? If you and Furiosa team up, you guys stand a huge chance of getting back to The Green Place, and you’ll be bringing company back to the Many Mothers, whom I’m sure would really appreciate the help in getting to safety. They have to be out there still. From what you’ve told me and from what I’ve heard, the Vuvalini do not give up. And neither have you.” 

“Hmph. Now there’s somethin’ to think about,” Travesty laughed briefly and looked at Vic gratefully before walking over to the taller War Girl. “Thanks Vicky. I really needed that. I mean, I can talk to Lexus and all, but…’s not the same. She doesn’t know as much as you do. Hell, she didn’t even know that I have twins of me own until we ran into ‘em.”

“You mean you never told her?” Vic asked, incredulous.

“No? What do I look like, an open book? She wasn’t there when they were born and I never really saw ‘em, what was the point? I’ve got enough on me hands with Torque and Harks. Don’t tell ‘em I said that though. ‘m likin’ this whole creeper thing that Harks thinks I am. I think she might actually ‘preciate it, honestly.” 

“That’s a little disconcerting, Trav.”

“What, if it keeps ‘em cautious, so be it! But if they do find out and ever give me the whole schtick of wanting me to play parent, then I can bet ya that’ll end badly for us all. Right, so I gotta bolt, got some War Boys to boss around an’ a love that’s probably worried sick about where I went. And by worried sick, I mean probably angry with me for ditchin’ ‘er in the middle of somethin’ real important that I can’t tell ya ‘bout ‘til it happens.”

“Even more disconcerting,” Vic sighed and pursed her lips, furrowing her eyebrows at that thought, but knew that Travesty would get in trouble if she said anything more than she already had. “Alright then, Trav, guess I should let you go.”

“See ya around then, Vic.”

“Bye,” Vic gave her a weak smile as the Imperator lumbered off. She hugged herself and tried not to overthink what Travesty might be getting herself into. It was necessary, no matter what it was. She just wished that she knew more. She needed to know more. It was crucial for her to understand what was going on around her, but...she would need to become an Imperator herself, and that was completely out of the question. She didn’t even like hearing his name, what good would it do her if she rose ranks just to get information? Well, it would do a lot, but she just needed to let go and trust the three Girls that did make it to Imperatorhood. 

And maybe push Caliper into giving it a try as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry that I haven't updated in so long. A lot of stuff got in the way, and then I also had some writer's block, but I think I know what direction I'm going in now. I mean, I knew beforehand, I just didn't know exactly how to write it. Hopefully I do now. Yay! Anyways, I went to Fanime that weekend and saw some Mad Max cosplayers. They were fantastic, and I wish I wasn't so shy in asking for photos. whOOPS
> 
> Also, the stuff that went on between Harker and Magnus is explained more in my War Boys fic, but I'm hesitant to post it, so guess what you will about what happened :v


	35. Have I Told You Lately

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Imperator Viper and her son Duncan, better known as Gasket now, go through some rough times, and even more are to come once Viper has an impromptu talk with Imperator Furiosa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is in reference to the song. I'm tired, here u go. I'm a little drained at the moment, forgive me for any mistakes.

For months, Viper didn’t see a wink of her son. She was both too busy and too upset to do so. The last time they were together, he was distant, no longer wanting to listen to her stories, although he had before been occasionally asking her to retell the one about the Caillieach, but it seemed more to be of a thing to keep what was left of their bond strong. Now he was no longer interested in his favorite goddess. No longer interested in spending time with her. Just wanted to be with his friends who called him by his preferred name of Gasket, played rough house with him, trying to see where he fell in the War Pup’s social world, even though everything right now was artificial. He would soon be leaving them to seriously start his drumming career. When she did see him at last, he must’ve grown a foot, easily, with an attitude to boot. He was halfway through his eighth year now, still young, but tough and hardened. He had seen horrors that even she could not protect him from, but this is what she had wanted, right? For him to have a normal, healthy War Pup life, completely unaware of his destiny. But after now dealing with the consequence for this choice for him, she was starting to regret ever wanting this life for him. Was he any safer this way?

When they first locked eyes after so long of not seeing each other, she was looking at a complete stranger. It had been when she was to start assigning all capable War Pups to their first duties with their elder War Boy mentors. He had been the last one in the lineup, and when she got to him, she paused in her speech, trying to place who he was. He blinked blankly back at her, not a single ounce of recognition there, although he did stand up taller, rolling his shoulders back and puffing up his chest, as if presenting himself in a “look at me now, maw” kind of way, like he used to. It took her breath away, but their relationship now was definitely not good. It took a lot of energy to not smile or lick and bite her lips in nervousness at the realization. Instead, Viper mirrored his movements, an eyebrow raised and she questioned whether or not he was trying to be smart with her.

He said nothing, but some life reappeared in his eyes. He was Duncan once again, scared and missing his mum, wishing that she wouldn’t speak to him like that, it only meant she was angry with him. Then, as quick as it came, it was gone, and Gasket still said nothing, even going so far as to tighten his lips. The other Pups looked at him at awe, then back at her, unsure if he would be getting away with not being respectful to her. 

“Then ye better pray, Pup, ‘cause in order tae become a true War Boy, you’re gonna need tae get yer hands plenty dirty. No more easy tasks fer ye. Ye got that? You’re personally gonna serve Immortan Joe fer the day. Do not tarry. Do not be smart. Do as you’re told; finish a day without a mistake, and he might want ye back. Wouldn’t want to give him reason tae not let into Valhalla, aye Pup?”

He still was silent, the gears in his mind spinning at full speed, smoothly, without hitches. He was clever enough to know that she was testing him and he was going to prove to her that he could do whatever it was she asked of him, just to spite her. Gasket linked his fingers together, making the sign of the V8 and just barely bowed his head so as to not break eye contact with her. Was he...was that a hint of a smirk?

“Aye, Imperator Viper.”

Viper went down into a half squat, leaning in, showing off the animal that was her upper left arm and namesake for now to him that had been her first intentional scarification when she became a War Girl, and together they both bared their teeth at him, making sure that he saw nothing but purposefully sharp canines. Fangs. For a second, he faltered, but steadied himself nonetheless. He truly was her son, and if circumstances were different, she would be more than proud of him. 

“Then ye better get goin’, laddie. The Immortan waits fer no one. Not even special Pups like ye. Oh, and do tell him his beloved Imperator Viper sent ye. Report back to me his reaction if he manages tae two an’ two together,” Viper stood back up abruptly and addressed them all, still keeping her eyes locked with Gasket. She took satisfaction in his confused expression, although she knew that she had put him in dangerous territory now. He risked being hurt by the Immortan, but that was just something that she would deal with when the time came. 

“Future War Boys. I release you now to your mentors. Do no let them down. Earn your right to the gates of Valhalla.” 

Finally, Gasket broke eye contact, half heartedly returning the sign of the V8 to her while his brothers and other War Boys around him eagerly showed their devotion to both her and their god. 

She watched him walk away, his head held up high, but she could tell from the rest of his body language that he seemed almost let down or disappointed. She didn’t know what he was expecting, or if he felt that he wasn’t actually up to the task she had given him. 

Soon as others were out of earshot of her, she whispered: “Bidh gaol agam ort fad mo bheatha, thusa ‘s gun duine eile, Duncan. Tha gaol agam ort,” as if the very words would save them from further distancing and destruction. She held onto the belief that they would with clammy hands and a force like no other that might stop the growing fear in her heart.   
__________

Her son meant more to her than anyone else in the world. He had to come first. But she also needed to take care of herself, since if she couldn’t, how could she take care of him when the time came? When they were free and together and out in the world, surviving to the best of their abilities. Anything but this. The distance between them was unbearable now. He had a new name, friends that would tell him it wasn’t good for him to be around her, it was soft to be an Imperator’s pet. And now she had just sent him to his father to serve him. A man that would be quick to put him down even further and ensure that he became a true War Boy. 

It gnawed at her the whole day and she performed poorly in her tasks. Whenever something happened, she cursed herself for letting her emotions and feelings get in the way when she should be working, but she was desperate for the day to end so that she could find him and whisk him away to somewhere safe. To a place where both of them could drop the act and just go back to old times. When he wanted to be with his mum when he could, when he was safe, just rough housing with others, not fighting to assert his place in the new generation of War Boys. And she just wanted to be a mother. Sure, the idea of becoming Prime Imperator was important to her, but she was losing everyone. The risk she was taking with her ultimate goal of ridding the world of Immortan Joe was starting to show it’s true weight, and it seemed to be more than she could handle now. Things might be easier once Ulrich joined the rank as she could have him stay in better touch with Dun-er, Gasket, as they would have a better time getting along. Complications might arise from either of them and she might lose them both, but for now that was her plan. Ulrich was more capable at switching between outsider and War Boy than she was; if anything, they might team up against her. Why or how that would happen, she didn’t know, but it was a possibility, and it was always wise to know what could go wrong.

God, more than anything at this point though, she really needed to find out who suggested that name to him. Gasket. It was a joke, it had to be. If the name didn’t fit the horrifying situation she was in, she probably would have been fine with it, asking if it was his new nickname that she would gladly start calling him by. Strangely enough though, she found that maybe she could deal with it if she thought about it’s true meaning. Gaskets fill in the space between two less than perfect surfaces. They fill in the irregularities. They join two forces together. And her son was becoming a force of nature in himself. He was strong and getting stronger. Was high in ranks with his peers. Picked up skills easily, mastered harder tasks quicker than most his age, and it probably had to do with her teaching him how to read and write along with passing down stories with valuable lessons in them that taught him to think outside the box. He was intelligent and it showed. He was dangerous in more than one way: he might figure out who his father was if he managed to collect enough information. 

Viper suppressed a melancholy sigh in the Imperator’s quarters. She had been laying in her bunk for the past few minutes, trying to catch her breath and gather her thoughts together to push them back so that she could have a clear mind for the rest of the day. She could worry more at night when she could wander around. She also wished that she hadn’t been pushing away her friends. Even though she saw both Travesty and Shelby often now, their bonds weren’t any tighter than they were before, when they were all War Girls. In fact, maybe even looser than to begin with. Viper vowed to fix that soon. She needed a support network; even though she wanted to keep them out of danger too, she couldn’t just leave herself with nothing to keep her grounded. 

“Imperator Viper. You’re looking rather miserable.” 

The voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she blinked a couple of times, trying to remember where she was and what she was doing. Oh right, she had been resting. But for how long, exactly? It shouldn’t have been that long. Was she in trouble? What time of day was it? Did she have time to see Duncan now? An organic hand rested itself upon her shoulder, startling her.

“Relax, you’re fine.”

The right to the point kind of talk told her who it was and she looked up from her bunk at Furiosa in complete surprise. The two of them hadn’t talked much before, but when they had, she didn’t tend to want to dwell on small talk.

“Imperator Furiosa, you’re looking rather...different,” was all she could think of in response. Either she never really noticed before or took care to notice, but her fellow Imperator was looking at her kindly, as if knowing that something was wrong. She didn’t think that was possible with Furiosa. The woman always seemed to have a harsh aura about her, built up around her like an impenetrable wall. Like she had been beaten down too many times before to remember what kindness was like. But perhaps this was how she chose to present herself, knowing it would keep her safer around here than anything else.

“We’re alone here. You can tell me what’s going on,” Furiosa said, a hint of a smile on her face. She made Viper sit up and throw her legs over the side of her bed like bunk so that she could sit beside her. In the meantime, she took off her chrome arm and began to tinker with it, fixing minute kinks in the machine that gave her an advantage over most others. Viper stared at it, always fascinated by how it worked, then looked away quickly when Furiosa gave her a questioning look. 

She took a deep breath and began. “I shouldn’t have sent him up to him.”

“Who?” Furiosa asked lightly, as if she already knew what Viper was talking about. And she very well might have. She had a strong presence with the War Pups too. They had always looked up to her. Duncan, no, Gasket, probably did too.

“My son, Duncan. Otherwise known as Gasket now. I sent him up to tend to the Immortan for the day. I shouldn’t have.”

“Why not?”

“I just...shouldn’t have. It was a mistake on my part,” Viper hung her head in shame, feeling a little defeated while also feeling like she couldn't really ever say why she did it outloud to someone else.

“You learn from your mistakes. Sometimes they just happen to affect other people you don’t want them to,” Furiosa spoke not only to Viper but to herself in a soft, yet hardened tone. “The Immortan will most likely not have recognized him.”

“That’s what I’m hoping, but I got cocky and told him to tell the Immortan something that would identify us both.”

“An unfortunate circumstance and a fool’s error, then.”

“But I know that he will not be hurt. He can’t be hurt. He’s the only heir,” she clenched her fists and raised her head up, anger boiling up inside her again. He couldn't lay a single hand on her son. He knew that he couldn't. But he could if he wanted to, even if he knew who the new War Pup serving him was. 

“If the Immortan realizes that he is him,” Furiosa finished up with tinkering around with her chrome arm and began to reassemble it. Viper again watched in fascination, but this time managed to speak the same time. 

“Yes. I fear they are both not ready for the truth.”

“What truth?” The Imperator stood up and finished strapping the customized mechanism to her waist and then turned to look at Viper with avid curiosity. She was genuinely interested in Viper’s life, even for a brief moment, and Viper was determined to start strengthening the acquaintanceship. She stood up too and locked eyes with her, hoping that with her next words that she uttered wouldn’t be crossing any boundaries between them. 

“That Joe’s reign is comin' tae an end, an' my son’s future is freedom.”

Furiosa stepped back, a gleam in her eye that did not sit well with Viper, but before the other could say anything, she turned and stalked out, intent on finding Gasket once the day was over and he was safe in the War Pups’ quarters. 

She did manage to find him with Niles’s help, and although the young Pup protested, she ordered him as Imperator to follow her. He knew that he had to obey her now, no questions asked, so he did, with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Soon as it seemed like they were alone enough, he attempted to grab onto her hand, in a sort of apology that she accepted with eagerness. When they came upon the spot where she had taken him all those years ago for the first time, where only the bravest of the brave venture, he knew that what she had to say was important.

“Gasket-”

“‘s okay, Maw, no one’s here.”

Viper chuckled, amused, but continued onwards without correcting herself. He would figure out what he wanted to go by permanently eventually, but she figured that it was only fair that he should decide for himself. So far most of her decisions seemed to be detrimental to him.

“Gasket, you an’ I both know that today was not a good one fer either of us.”

“Nay, t’was a good one fer me, Maw. The Immortan seems impressed wit’ me. ‘nd He said He’s been waitin’. What does He mean by that, Maw?” he looked confused but also appeared to be on the dawn of realization. She couldn’t get him to spit out what truly went on between him and Joe, but she wanted to drag out admitting his actual identity for as long as she could. 

“He means that he’s been waiting fer a good Pup like ye tae come along. He appreciates all the help he can get.”

“He...called ye by another name when I told Him yer message.”

Viper froze, but quickly snapped out of it. Another name meant anything really, especially when it came to Immortan Joe. Gasket looked like he was trying to remember, so she held her breath until he spoke again.

“He called ye...Gris...Griselda? He asked if I meant The Beloved Griselda.”

She tried to find an excuse for it and found none that he would believe or accept. Instead she threw her head back, looking at the sky and the stars. “Aye. T’was a name I once had.”

“How does He know ye by it, Maw?”

“T’is a long story, an’ a story ye should be askin’ another time, laddie,” she said firmly, grabbing onto him and pulling him closer to her. He sat in her lap without much fuss and together they just spent some quiet time taking in their surroundings, and for a moment, she could imagine that she was actually happy. It was just them and no one else out here for right now. And she so desperately wanted it to stay that way. However, soon Gasket was yawning and starting to curl up against her and she knew it was time for them to retire for the night.

As she brought him back to the War Pups’ bunks, she whispered into his ear as she carried him on her hip, “Bidh gaol agam ort fad mo bheatha, thusa ‘s gun duine eile, Duncan. Tha gaol agam ort.”

“Tha gaol agam ort, Maw.”

She hadn’t expected him to respond, but she felt that with them speaking a language of old, he felt like he was able to tell her that he still loved her. She smiled softly at him, and they departed once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I cry while writing this?
> 
> Yes. Yes I did. 
> 
> Also, looked up Scottish Gaelic online, let me know if this phrasing is off or not, I'd really appreciate it!
> 
> And another thing! If you're confused about timelines, it is less than a year and a half before the events of Fury Road. Hope that helps put things into perspective. I wanted to try and speed things up cos I'm thinking about ending this at 50 chapters, but we'll see! That's 15 more chapters from now, so that's a lot to figure out from here to there.


	36. Blindsided

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lexus meets someone that turns out to be someone useful to Savvy, and Travesty manages to sneak in some time with her partner to both reconnect and also to talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which I return with some bittersweet moments :v

The stench of rotting flesh was almost too much to the point that she was about to vomit right then and there, and knowing that it was coming from someone still alive was making the urge even harder to stave off. She kept on gulping and trying to breathe through a cloth to help disguise the fact that she was feeling so queasy and close to passing out. No one should have to go through what this person was going through, but it happened all too often. Someone would get into an accident out there and return a bloody mess. Sometimes the wounds would heal right away, and sometimes it would take a long time before the person saw the light of day again. This person happened to be the latter case, only they had fallen victim to some bloodthirsty War Boys that had been told to keep any people alive to be brought back. His right leg had been mangled in the crash, and only a thin layer of gauze was covering it. Flies had gotten through some of the holes and maggots were busy eating up the dead flesh, something that grossed her out even more, but she knew enough by now to know that at least they were helping with keeping the wound clean, even though it looked like the leg would not be able to be saved at this point.

Lexus had recently been getting over her fear of the Organic Mechanic in order to help with the mute, hard of hearing, or deaf War Pups when she wasn’t with Travesty, which seemed to often now a days. She had been teaching them sign language and how to read lips better, and they had taken to her immediately, especially when they saw the ragged scar left from the gash she had received years ago. At the moment, they were all accompanying her as she looked after this man with the mangled leg. They tended not to leave her side when given the chance and while it meant a lot to her, she did find it suffocating sometimes.

Lexus snapped her attention back to the man as she noticed that his breathing had changed, and he woke himself up with violent coughs that caused him to sit up, a hand propping him up while the other clutched at his throat in a violent manner that scared Lexus as she recognized that look on his face. It was a pained expression that had crossed her own many times before. She and the Pups watched with wide eyes, a couple of the younger ones looking to her for direction, but she didn’t quite know how to react. Once the coughing subsided, the man struggled to sit all the way up as he tried to get his breathing controlled again. 

“What’s goin’ on over ‘ere?” the Organic Mechanic peered around the curtain, looking very disgruntled, probably from being woken up by the sudden noise. He glanced around, disapprovingly, and locked eyes with Lexus. He frowned at her and sneered. “Ain’t ya supposed to be helpin’, missy?”

Startled, Lexus dropped her rag from her mouth and wasn’t able to find the strength to speak, so she nodded her head quickly and got back to work, motioning for the Pups to stay where they were while she went to check on the man. A couple left with the OM, those that were not entirely interested in what she was doing now that she was having them stay back, but the rest waited patiently. They were here to learn from her and while she might not have had a lot of medical training, they did rely on her to at least demonstrate the basics in a way the Organic Mechanic could not. At the moment, she just needed to make sure that the man wan’t going to choke on his own spit. 

“What’s going on? Where am I? Who- who are you people?” The man was still clutching his throat and his voice was strained and hoarse, but she couldn’t tell the extent of damage done to it until he was fully calmed down. They might be able to nurse it back to health, unless the wear and tear of his voice was too much. He was looking at them all expectedly, and she shook her head to clear her thoughts and introduced herself.

“I’m Lexus. Do you remember how you got here?”

“No, I was askin’ you!” Another coughing fit. His face began to turn red and while she didn’t want to panic, something told her that he wasn’t doing well at all. 

“Er-okay, okay, please calm down, sir, I’m-we’re here to help you. You were in a crash and was left to rot in the desert until the War Boys saw that you were still breathing.”

“War Boys...then this is…” the blood seemed to just drain from his face and whitened even more than what she had thought possible when she first laid eyes on him and she grimaced as she confirmed his fear.

“The Citadel. Immortan Joe’s territory.”

He was quiet for a moment, realization slowly dawning over him as he took in the entire situation. Lexus shifted uncomfortably and some more War Pups left, equally uncomfortable or just becoming bored. The last three, all deaf, stuck around, inching closer and closer to Lexus’s side until one of them stuck a hand into hers. She flinched at first, surprised, but then squeezed it tightly to comfort the child, and to comfort herself as well.

“What are they going to do to me?” 

She barely heard him as his voice was becoming hoarse, but as she answered, she couldn’t stop herself from keeping the bitterness and hopelessness out of her tone. “First we’re going to try and heal you, but you might end up losing that leg, it’s not in good shape at all. After that, you’re a blood bag, mate. Welcome to the Blood Shed.”

“The…” He faltered. “What kind of name is that?”

“Not a very creative one, but what can I say? I didn’t come up with it. Now I gotta tell these guys what to do before I get in trouble again. Do you know any sign language? I don’t have this scar on my neck for decoration, and these little tykes don’t know how to read lips properly yet.” 

The man gestured out that he knew enough to get by and she signed back to him that she would be getting him some water. The War Pups looked up at her, questioning her with their eyes as to why this blood bag was going to be allowed precious aqua cola. Lexus clicked her tongue, a little put out, and explained quickly with her hands that he just needed a little bit in order to stay breathing, and that she needed them to change the man’s dressings. 

Once her “shift” was over and she said goodbye to her Pups, she went by the man’s room to check on him one last time. They talked a little more and he grew more intrigued by her presence, and since she didn’t really have anything to do until later that evening, she entertained him by answering basic questions. It was like a break from the world around them. There were a few questions that stood out her though, almost making her feel more exposed than usual whenever it was brought up.

“Are there others like you? You call yourself a War Girl to differentiate yourself from the War Boys. Why?”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought I was pretty clear with what I was asking.”

“I was just wondering, no reason to get crass with me. There’s a group of us. We all came here through different ways, but ended up in the same situation. I’d rather not go into it too much, sir, but I will say that there are others like me that don’t associate themselves with us out of...a combination of disgust and disappointment. They don’t call themselves War Girls often, but sometimes they will. We tend not to get along with them. Again, long story short, my group and I got to live the ‘high life’ for a while, then just...didn’t make it. Fell, in a way. They would literally kill to have the life that we had, but my group knows that it was pure hell. Absolute hell. I’m sorry, this is the longest I’ve spoken in awhile, do you mind…?”

“I’m actually getting rather tired myself. Think I’ll get some sleep, if I can. That man, the...Organic Mechanic is it? Scares me. Will you be here tomorrow?”

Lexus nodded, sighing as the man settled down as best he could. She made sure that he was as comfortable as he could be, then took his empty can of water to refill it for herself. The three War Pups had been waiting just outside the curtains. They looked up at her for anything more and she signed that the man should be left alone for a few hours and they rushed off to look after their other patients. Lexus stood in place for a second to watch them leave before movement caught her attention and she jumped, hoping that it wasn’t the OM.

“Savvy? What are you doing here?”

“Oh, hey Lexus, there you are. Looking for Torque ‘cause she’s missing and also was told by yer lovely Imperator that she wants ya to go see her while she’s takin’ a break from bossin’ everyone around. And that’s it, bye,” Savvy waved and was about to leave when she caught a glimpse of the man behind the curtain and instantly she froze. “Who is that.”

Lexus was about to try and get the both of them out of there as soon as possible before the OM came back to demand what was going on, but instead she was shoved to the side. Knowing that it was useless to try and deter Savvy from doing what she wanted, Lexus decided it was best to just keep watch and listen in to whatever it was that was about to happen. From the look of it and from Savvy’s reaction, something big was in the works. 

With a strong sense of confidence about the man looking up at her, Savvy kneeled down next to him and took a deep breath before speaking. It gave her time to remember what she needed to say in case she ever came across someone from her clan. She knew this face, and she knew this man. It was just a matter of checking to see if he knew her too, or recognized her. The years had been long and rough, but even time couldn’t erase certain people from your memory. 

“Hullo there. It’s not wombat season anymore, so there’s no reason to go out hunting these days. It goes against our morals.”

The silence at first scared her, but she waited. She knew this face, she knew this man. He couldn’t let her down. Not after all this time. He studied her, as if trying to place her face, but she knew with her war paint and current outfit and lack of hair, he wouldn’t be able to tell. Time ticked by slowly as she waited. She knew this face, she knew this man, she knew this face, she knew this man, she knew-

“...I know but I wanted to go hunting anyways, dearest Bella.” 

Sighing in relief, she looked down at his damaged and wrapped up leg and winced. “Might wanna cut down on the racin’ then, mate. But I guess it’s too late for that warning. Mum would would have been furious with you.”

Suspicious, the man squinted, and tried to move away from her, but curiosity kept him talking. “...who are you? How do you know of the code?”

Savvy smirked. “If you’re who I think you are-and judging by your response, you must be-then I’m your long lost niece. You know you shouldn’t be anywhere near here, what’s wrong with you? Mum would have been furious about this too. Idiot. Look at me, this is what happens to those that survive this place. Although, you’re not going to be as lucky, if you call this life lucky. Blood bags tend to die after a few weeks or months. Depends. Life is shit around here for everyone that isn’t a War Boy.”

“Niece...Savvy...Saveria?” His eyes widened and he started to smile, but it faded as denial set in. “No. No, we all thought you and the others were lost, you can’t be alive, you were all taken-”

“Lost is a funny word, ain’t it, Uncle Achilles? We’ve got a lot to catch up on, starting with the fact that I got married to the Immortan, then sort of got divorced. I’m still not sure how this works around here, to be completely honest, he just kind of does what he wants, that bastard. Hey Lexus, can you do me a favor and get Vic and Cali? I’ve got good news and bad news for them. Looks like we might be able to leave, long as Uncle Achilles knows where the rest of the Bellamorals are, if any are left. And if you see Torque, tell her that Harker is pissed. Thanks!”

Lexus shrugged and left silently, a little overwhelmed by the fact that Savvy knew this man and seemed safe enough to be left alone with him in the Blood Shed. She knew that Vic and Caliper would probably be together, and probably in the garages or repair bays, or...where were they regularly? She didn’t really know anymore, they didn’t really get along anymore or ask her to join them. At first they did when Travesty moved up ranks, but they just didn’t click like they all used to. Probably had to do with Vic feeling awkward around her, and it didn’t help that she herself would get jealous for no real reason. They should probably all have a sit down talk at some point to just officially figure out where everyone stood, just to get some sort of closure settled finally.

She wandered around on her own deciding that she would have enough time before she met with Travesty, wherever she was either since Savvy didn’t tell her. She ran into Niles with his Pups, but he seemed too busy to be able to tell her if he knew anything about the whereabouts of the two other War Girls, so she moved on, checking out the other usual places, but wound up with nothing.

She did, however, find Torque, who looked exhausted from all the work she had been doing lately without her sister. After telling her the news about Harker, Lexus was surprised to see Torque just about collapse on the ground from laughing so hard. 

“Good! Serves her right!” 

After that, Torque couldn’t seem to stop so Lexus just moved on, telling Torque to get Vic and Caliper to meet with Savvy in the Blood Shed, deciding that she was wasting time at this point. 

Once that was taken care of, she set off to find Travesty, her Imperator. It was an odd choice of words that she had never really heard before, but it was true, she guessed. Travesty was an Imperator and hers. It just never really occurred to her. Since Savvy didn’t specify where to meet Travesty, she just went down to their shared space, assuming that her Imperator would be there. After she rolled the rock behind, she was greeted by an enthusiastic Travesty that rushed up to her. 

“Hello, love.”

A warm feeling washed over her and she forgot about the day’s events for just a moment as Travesty embraced her in a strong hug and long kiss that left her breathless, as usual. Lexus felt hands trail down her back slowly and tiny kisses with bites in between were placed on her neck. She shivered in response, suddenly craving more than just innocent pecks and light touches. Nothing was more important in that moment than getting the opportunity to please her partner, and they didn’t get opportunities like this much anymore.

“Come here, Travs, it’s been too long.”

She grabbed ahold of Travesty’s waist and soon they were lying naked on their clothes that served as a makeshift blanket for them on the dirty and dusty ground. Both were sweaty and could probably use a quick shower, but only Travesty was allowed that luxury these days. Lexus would need to wait another day or so. It was only another reminder of how different things were between them now. 

After they had cooled off, it seemed that Travesty had something to say, but needed the time to really think about how she was going to say it. Lexus gave her time, wishing that they could stay curled up like this forever, with their legs tangled together and her head on Travesty’s chest, listening to her heartbeat and even breathing that made her feel at home. 

“I wanted to ask ya something. I know that I ‘aven’t talked to Furiosa yet, and I will, I promise, but...You should come with us. Please, Lexus, I’m gonna need you when we get there. I mean...I don’t...what if I’m not welcome? I mean…’ow am I gonna prove meself?”

Lexus sighed, tensing and untensing, knowing that Travesty expected her to say yes, and she really wanted to. On the other hand, she finally found a purpose here that would help a whole group of War Pups, young boys, succeed in communicating with others as well as teach them that just because they were different didn’t mean that they weren’t worth basic respect from the others. It was important to her for them to be kept safe and it was a great feeling knowing that she was capable of doing some sort of good around here. 

“Lexus? You’re being too quiet for me.”

“I-I thought it was a given that I was going to be leaving with you.” 

Travesty smiled sheepishly. “Yeh, of course, but I just wanted to, ya know, make sure. I dunno, I haven’t really been feelin’ like meself lately. Kind of...anxious and trapped? I thought being an Imperator would make things easier. Turns out it just made things harder. I don’t really have time to think about how I’m gonna go about things now.”

They laid in silence again, huddling closer together as the temperature in the room dropped, and Lexus wondered when Travesty needed to get going. Surely she needed to be doing something and she knew Imperators weren’t allowed breaks for long. She sat up, bringing her knees to her chest, thinking about anything but Travesty leaving her for another couple of days. 

“Travs...Do...do you think we can take some Pups? I know it’s an odd request, but…”

Travesty stretched, yawning loudly and wrapped an arm around Lexus, pulling her back down to hold her close. “I dunno. Let’s just get out of ‘ere first, okay? I won’t forget though. You’ve found some li’l ones that you wanna protect, ‘aven’t you?”

Lexus smiled softly in confirmation, and she saw Travesty’s eyes lit up even more, with a slight hint of understanding. After all, she was looking at the woman that accidentally started caring for a pair of twins that barely wanted anything to do with her.

“Aw, now I know that I gotta figure out a way to bring ‘em with us. You know, after we find the Green Place again. ‘m sure it’ll be okay, things can’t be that bad there.”

They got dressed again, and Lexus noted that Travesty’s clothing was a lot more layered now, a good thing as it gave her the extra protection needed from the sun, and she was sure that Travesty felt better about being covered more. They kissed one last time just before they left the room and after reaching Lexus’s bunk, Travesty was back on her way again, hands in her pockets, a slight limp in her step. Lexus watched her go, a dull ache starting to make itself known in her chest, but she knew it was pointless to beg her to stay. If anything, staying awake would only worsen the pain, and that was the last thing she needed. She climbed up into her empty bunk, settled down, and ignored the fact that she should probably be helping with her evening duties, favoring sleep over work. She’d deal with the consequences in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I know that it's been months since I last updated, but here it is finally!! A lot has happened recently and I also got writer's block, not in the sense of what's going to happen since I have this all planned out, but as in how do I connect the dots. There's also something major coming up in the story and I've been conflicted about how it's going to happen as it affects the ending, but just know that it's not going to be happy at all. Fair warning!
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading!


	37. Lashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harker senses a serious change in Torque and ends up talking to Travesty about it.

Torque began wearing a bandana around her neck, almost identical to Harker’s. It was kind of odd as she just showed up one night in the bunks with it on and she refused to tell anyone, even her twin that was always told everything, where she had got it from or even why she was wearing it. After days of constant pestering, she finally gave in to the pleas of her sister and explained that she was wearing it to help wipe sweat off her face now that she was doing more work, and also just as a reminder of Harker since they didn’t see each other as often. The only thing that made Harker still worry about her was the fact that she refused to take it off, or even show her the progress of her scars, and the suspicion that something wrong was growing rapidly.

The twins had slowly started drifting away from each other as Torque became absorbed in her work and Harker felt that her sister was healthy and safe enough to be left alone more often. It didn’t stop her from occasionally popping in now and then to see how she was doing, mostly out of habit, but Torque often kept their conversations and interactions brief, so Harker found solace with Vic, Caliper, and Savvy, or hung around Luc and Magnus to keep busy and to stay on track with her duties. 

Harker was worried that Torque was reverting back to her old self, taking care of business first and taking care of her own needs second. As much as Harker offered help with any grunt work or tried to get Torque to go out on patrols, it was always the same answer: Torque was capable of doing things on her own, and as much as she would like to go out and get some sun and drive more, she didn’t want to take the fun out of Harker being with Luc and Magnus. Despite being told time and time again that Harker wanted her to drive their Trans Am together again as Magnus sometimes took up too much space (used to having worked as a solo lancer for so long), her sister would shut down the conversation by getting back to work and running her tools loudly to drown out Harker’s voice. It was annoying and felt like a huge slap to the face every single time it happened. 

Everything that Torque did was starting to scare her. In fact, this was eerily similar like when they were back at Gastown as kids, when Harker would go off with her friends while Torque stayed at home, concerned with their parents and their health and never gave herself a break, never allowed herself a break, fearing that she would be getting in the way of Harker’s fun as well as letting her parents down. It was frustrating and all too familiar, and it was beginning to bring out even more reckless behavior in Harker.

The pits could only offer so much, and there was only so much that she could take at a time. Fights were becoming her outlet, and while maybe a spar here and there would have been considered healthy, full on bloodshed was what she was looking for, just to give her something else to focus on. Marks on her arm and body were becoming harder and harder to hide as just scratches and bruises from falls or accidents while training. More scarification would show up basically over night and despite the others asking her to stop getting them, it only encouraged her more. Soon she had markings on her stomach that looked like giant slashes and some machinery parts spiraled up and down her spine and on her shoulder blades. Pain at any level was becoming a more reliable friend than Torque was. 

On a particularly bloody night, she was forced to go see the Organic Mechanic after she had been stabbed a couple of times in the side and shoulder when a War Boy snuck a piece of rusty metal into the brawl as his prize for beating her would have been big. Instead, he ended up dead due to her fist connecting with his temple at the right speed and angle. The blow broke her hand in return but still that hadn’t been enough. She had so much pent up anger for multiple reasons that she didn’t care at the point, and it took several others to finally pull her away from the dead man and take away the piece of metal from her hands that she kept on slashing into him. She had just wanted to shred him, he had no right to cheat, and no right to break her hand. When the death was confirmed, she didn’t bat an eye, although the guilt slowly started to creep up on her. Then again, he was trying to kill her too, so why should she care if another War Boy died, mediocre and not worthy of getting into Valhalla? It was a lie anyways. She spat on his body and kicked dust into his face as she was escorted away, feeling the fire burning inside her start to rage. He meant nothing and yet he meant everything. He was evidence that she was slowly starting to lose herself without Torque.

As she sat there getting stitched and bandaged up after an examination, Luc came to talk to her after hearing about the fight. Whatever it was that he said, it fell upon deaf ears, as she felt that it was better to ignore him rather than let him make her feel bad for killing someone that he knew. Not her fault. Besides, she’d talk to him later on when she felt like it. He knew the rules: She went to them, they didn’t go to her unless it was something really serious. He left after not getting any sort of response from her, and as she watched him leave with a small hope that he would turn around and come back, she saw Magnus in the distance, leaning against the wall. He gave a small wave, but nothing more. She wasn’t even sure if it was for her. It was better to not chance it and just look away. 

Not long after that painful encounter, Vic walked in with a purposeful stride, not bothering to hide her disappointment or concern from her face. The sheer negative energy coming off of her made Harker shrink back and become even more defensive, knowing that she would be getting a lecture, and a long one at that. Unfortunately, this was one she couldn’t weasel out from by trying to snub someone.

“Can you get Torque please? I don’t wanna talk to you. I already know how you feel and what you’re gonna say to me, and I don’t wanna hear it, Vic. I just wanna see my sister.”

Vic came to a stop not far from the other and crossed her arms, her expression softening in understanding. “I would, but she’s busy with a car that she’s trying to build out of scraps.”

Harker huffed, turning her back to the other War Girl. “Great. She’s always busy.”

The young Pup attending to her sensed the growing tension and backed off, not wanting to get involved. Looking after him with jealously and sadness, she just began picking at her newest scars, intent on opening them back up again to apply dirt to the open wound to help raise them up more. Vic quietly made her way over to her side and sat down on the dirt bench, not quite sure how to approach the youngest of them in a way that wouldn’t bother or push her more. 

“She has her reasons, just like you have yours for going to the pits all of the damn time. She thinks that you are more interested in your War Boys now that the bumps are gone and to compensate, she overworks herself because she’s not sick anymore. You are looking to get yourself killed so that she’ll start paying more attention to you again. Both of you are handling this situation wrong, aren’t you.”

It wasn’t a question or asking for confirmation, it was just a conclusion that Vic had worked out. Harker winced at that, but didn’t deny it. Maybe she had been. Maybe it took a lot of convincing to go see the OM from the War Boys betting on her to win, but maybe she didn’t want to admit that to anyone, even herself.

“Just don’t tell Travesty, she’ll chew me out for this.” Harker muttered, hoping that Vic hadn’t heard. She just wasn’t that lucky though, and the sigh from Vic just felt like another blow. At this point, she’d take the physical bruises and cuts any day over all of the guilt building up from her actions.

“Because she cares about you, Harker. She worries over you and your sister, but mostly about you because you are more prone to getting into trouble and hurting yourself like this.”

“Pff, yeh that sounds like me, you all must think I’m an absolute drongo by now. Look, I’d love to sit here and chat with ya more about how I should behave, Vic, but I don’t wanna. Just tell Tori that it would be nice to see her.”

“...okay. You sure you’re okay?” Vic reached out and placed a hand delicately on Harker’s shoulder, hesitant in case Harker slapped it away.

“I’m fine, nothing that Organic can’t fix.” She huffed.

“You know you can always talk to me, Harker.”

“And I don’t want to right now, Vic, shove off!”

“Alright. I know when I’m not wanted. So I’ll get someone that I know you’ll talk to.”

“...wait no, Vic, seriously don’t! She’ll kill me!”

“Too late. Decision made.”

“You can’t make her leave her post, she’s on duty!”

“Watch me.” With that, Vic left with a smug grin on her face, a look that Harker desperately wanted to belt off as soon as possible. Instead, she sat there definitely defeated this time. The one person that she hated the most was beginning to seem like the first (or second really) person that she was willing to be open with. It bothered her more than it should have.

__________

Harker heard the uneven footsteps that were now accentuated by the chains that decorated Travesty’s clothing and waist echoing through the Blood Shed and it was like her own body didn’t know how to react. She stiffened but relaxed, then stiffened again, the anxiety that had built up trying to decide whether she was safe or going to regret not fleeing when she had the chance. Travesty was unpredictable and the last time they had clashed over Harker’s lifestyle it had left her in tears, and Torque wasn’t here with her this time to help stabilize her. Just keep breathing, that was the most important thing at the moment. Focus on the pain. 

“A li’l birdie told me that you broke a few rules during a match.” Travesty plopped herself down beside the young War Girl, casually acknowledging all of the signs of respect that surrounding War Boys gave her. It was probably one of the few things that she liked about being an Imperator.

“Oh yeah? Did that birdie tell you that it was in self defense?” She pointed to her wounds for emphasis and Travesty smiled softly at her and she nudged her elbow into Harker’s arm. 

“Of course, Harks.”

Harker sniffed, not caring that she was being rude to a person of higher authority than her in front of the War Boys. “Then we don’t have much to talk about then, do we?”

“Nah, I just left all of the War Boys I was bossin’ around to come ‘ere specifically to ‘arass you, Harks. I’m not yer sister, I can’t read yer mind, so ‘ere’s yer chance to talk it out instead of screwin’ around and bottlin’ it all up. Trust me, it’s better for ya if you just address yer issues instead of ignorin’ ‘em.”

Harker tilted her head, squinting in disbelief. It had always been hard to figure out what Travesty’s motives were, and therefore, the distrust was hard to push away for moments like this. “Why do you even care? About us? About me?”

Travesty smirked but looked away. “Let’s just say that you two are a painful reminder of what could’ve been, but since that didn’t ‘appen, this is the next best thing. Least I got some sort of bond with youse li’l girls.”

“Bond?”

The Imperator quickly raised a hand up, too quick in Harker’s opinion. “Don’t think about it too much, it would ‘urt yer ‘ead if you knew.”

“No, you gotta tell me why you’re always on our case! It’s not fair!” Her eyes felt like they were getting wetter and she curled her hands into fists in response as if that would help stave off the tears. Everything was becoming too overwhelming and she just wanted to run. Would run, if Organic hadn’t basically threatened her into staying in the Blood Shed. There was a chance that she would need to get hooked up if the bleeding in her shoulder didn’t cease or slow down. She had already gone through several bandages and the blood loss was taking away her strength. Travesty must’ve noticed how much trembling she was doing as she pulled aside a War Pup and told him to get some fresh aqua cola, Imperator’s orders.

“I don’t gotta tell you nothin’, Harker. Look, we gonna fight more or are you gonna take this opportunity to tell me what’s eatin’ at ya?”

A few moments of silence went by, but they were both used to it by now. It wasn’t as uncomfortable, and the more Harker was able to think things through, the more she relaxed and felt more at ease. It was true; Travesty wasn’t her sister, this was a chance to get things off of her chest that were bothering her about Torque with someone that she at least knew wouldn’t say anything if she asked her to.

“...Fine. ’s the same stuff, ya know, me with War Boys, her with feeling abandoned, only this time Tori’s been keepin’ secrets from me. ‘s not like her to do something like that. She always tells me everything. Everything! I think she’s been using Luc and Magnus as a distraction. 

“That bandana around her neck...she hasn’t removed it ever since she put it on. And I never see her use it either, even though she said that it to help keep sweat and grease off of her face. Yeh, it’s greasy, but only on the side where the bumps were...like she’s been scratching that spot. That side of her neck was never greasy before she got that bandana. Something’s wrong. Really wrong.”

Travesty shifted to face Harker more, propping her bad leg up to give it some relief. “Hm. You think they might’ve come back?”

“See, that’s just it. It doesn’t make sense. When they first showed up, she told me right away because she was scared and that’s when we first started to cling to each other, because we were scared of losing each other. If they’re back, why wouldn’t she tell me? I’m scared that she’s gotten used to them and doesn’t care that they’re back, like it’s no big deal. It is a big deal! It’s a huge deal! That means that she’s back to being a half-life! And I’m sitting here like an idiot, bleeding out, wishing that she would just quit her work for once and come see me. She’s my sister, she means more to me than anyone else.”

Cocking her head to the side, Travesty opened her mouth as if to speak, but shut it again. Harker could tell she wanted to say something but instead, Travesty stood up and stuck her hand out. 

“Let’s do somethin’ different, shall we? You stay out of trouble and lay off the fightin’, and I’ll make sure that you and Torque get a chance to talk. Really talk. She’s hurtin’ too, ya know.”

Ugh. The War Pup came back with a canteen and handed it roughly to Harker, which was exactly how she felt too. Agitated and ready for a nap. “What’s in it for you?” 

“Nothin’. Just peace of mind.”

“You really don’t let an opportunity pass you, do you?” Harker said as she shook Travesty’s hand with some enthusiasm. 

“You would think so, wouldn’t you?” The Imperator left after that, and Harker realized that the response wasn’t meant for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, sometimes it rly doesn't feel like a month when I update but I guess it has been whoOPS


	38. On the Road

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Torque and Harker have their first adventure in awhile and almost nothing happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote something safe because I forgot the timeline again, but yeha, long time no post, am i right???

All she had been doing today so far was stare at the ceiling since her blood donor had either been too busy sleeping or not in the mood to talk. It sucked. Genuinely sucked. No one else around her wanted to talk, and she didn’t even want to think about the War Boy a step above her because he hadn’t moved or made a sound in hours. At first she thought that maybe he had been sleeping, but his position hadn’t changed a bit.; not even his fingers had flinched. She didn’t want to engage with anyone else passing through, thinking she would only get in trouble, and it made her realize that this was what Torque had put up with. Boredom, lack of meaningful interactions, and just...waiting. Waiting for Organic Mechanic to come around and give her the all clear, waiting to be checked up on, waiting for her donor to talk back to her, waiting for anything that might distract her from the sick and dying War Boys surrounding her. Death was a quiet companion here. 

A couple hours past noon, she was rudely woken from her nap by a nudge to her injured shoulder. Hissing in pain, she was about to go off on the idiot that did so, but instead came face to face with Torque, who looked rather nervous, itching to leave as soon as possible. She might not have said that out loud, but Harker could tell how on edge her jittery sister was and she promptly ripped out the IV (a mistake that she’d just have to deal with) and ran out after her, ignoring the cries of assisting War Pups. On the one hand it felt good to be able to leave the Blood Shed, on the other...Torque didn’t seem too pleased. Nevertheless, she tried to make small talk as they jogged to the garages. 

“What took you so long? I thought maybe you’d miss me sooner than this, and honestly? I’m offended.” 

“Shut up, we gotta go on patrol, Imperator’s orders.”

“Can’t imagine who that was.” Harker snickered and received another light blow to her injured shoulder. “Ow, jeez! Shove off, will ya?”

“Shhh! You’ll attract unwanted attention. Just get our stuff and meet me by the car. I’m gonna move it to the platform, but you gotta hurry, they’re leaving in 15 minutes.”

Harker scoffed as she sped up, noting the urgency in her sister’s voice. “Unwanted attention?” 

Torque split off from her, just glaring in warning. It ticked her off but at the same time, there wasn’t time for questions or arguing, she could do that later when they were together out there once again on their own. There was work to be done such as getting rations, water, and extra gun powder for her thundersticks. She was finally going to spend some quality time with her sister, which meant that she needed to get her ass in gear. As she gathered up the gear, tying things here and there to her body and stuffing bullets into any available pockets, she could feel eyes on her. It made her freeze and try to pinpoint who it was, although she’d make a bet that it was Travesty, no doubt. Always with the sneaking, what was with that woman? However, it seemed a little too intense, and there were too many War Boys surrounding her for her to get a good look. 

As an added precaution, Harker also pocketed a sharpening rock. Once she had everything she could possibly carry on her person and in her arms, she rushed to get to the car. Torque had already loaded it onto the platform and she was screaming at her to get on before they started to lower it. The stuff made her significantly slower since she had to be careful not to agitate the gun powder too much, and with the added rotgut near it she felt like a walking bomb. 

The whistle blew to signal that they were ready to leave, and Torque was forced to shut up and get in the driver’s seat. A War Boy saw that she was partnerless and began to jump down onto the platform to join her, but was shoved out of the way in the last second by a very determined Harker. It seemed like they were lowering it faster than usual and she had to jump down, falling a yard or two until she landed somewhat gracefully next to her perch. Torque stood up and yelled at her for being incompetent, but she just stuck her tongue out at her sister while she loaded up the car. It was kind of too late to recheck Torque’s work, but she’d do it on the road and make any repairs if they were needed. Her heart was racing as she realized that yes, they really were heading out into the wasteland again. 

“How long are we out for patrol?” she asked as she climbed into the passenger side. 

“All night.”

“What? You should’ve told me, I would’ve brought more supplies with us! Actually I would have brought more food, I’m starvin’.”

“I’ve been stocking up on stuff secretly, so there’s loads of shit in the back in hidden compartments, food included. Besides, you looked like you were really struggling back there. If we had more time I would’ve helped you out.”

“Wow, you’ve really customized this car without me, haven’t ya?”

“Meh, nothing I knew you wouldn’t hate. There’s also a lot more blankets just for the heck of it.”

“Aw, thanks mate!”

Torque shushed her and directed both of their attention to the Imperator giving them instructions, and then they were off. While they were still with the pack, Harker reclined and yawned, plopping her feet up on the dashboard. They had another klick or so before they’d split off along with another group of three, so she had a minute to rest her eyes. She was feeling a little weak from low blood sugar and slight blood loss as she had forgotten to redo her bandages and cover up her arm where she had the needle in her. It was beginning to bruise and she knew right away she was going to regret ripping it out later in the night. 

“There’s med stuff in the back as well in case ya need it. We’re heading northwest to the little basecamp we’ve stayed at before. I managed to talk the other guys into taking first watch so you got some time to sleep if ya need to.”

“You’re a blessing, did ya know that Tori?”

“And you’re a right pain in the arse, but I guess I still love ya.”

“Love ya too, sis.” 

__________

Patrol was uneventful, as usual. It mostly consisted of watching the three guys they had partnered up with make absolute fools of themselves, showing off and putting each other in their place. The twins only really joined in when they decided to play a game of tag which consisted of Harker figuring how to dismantle the lancers from their perch while they drove at high speeds, the drivers also trying to buck off the lancers as well. It was good practice in figuring out your opponent’s moves as well as staying aware of your driver and surroundings. Her rounds tended to end quicker than when the two lancers tried to push her off. It was good to be smaller and swifter on such a large vehicle. It lasted much longer than it should have, but they were having too much fun to really consider how stupid it was.

Every now and then they’d take their job seriously and split up briefly to check the perimeter they were assigned to, but nothing in particular caught their eye. Harker swore she saw a dust trail maybe 4 to 5 klicks away, but it was too far out of their reach to really care. The sun was setting and first watch was coming up, which meant Torque and Harker would be alone for a few of hours to get some sleep. 

After the fire had been set, food had been eaten, and plenty of rotgut drunk, the War Boys drove off, leaving the twins to their own devices. It didn’t take long for Harker to decide that she wanted another scarification done on her right forearm. Torque protested at first, saying that she wasn’t comfortable doing it, but Harker said that she could do whatever it was that she wanted, meaning that it could even just be a tiny cut or a message or what, it was up to her. She was going to keep it wrapped up anyways, so it could even be her deepest darkest secret since she also wasn’t going to be looking as she needed to keep an eye out for flares. It was a slyest way she could think of to get Torque to talk. 

“So...what’s going on with your neck?”

‘What do you mean?”

“ I know you’re not wearing a scarf because you like them. You know exactly what I mean, Tori.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Torque!”

“Just because I’m wearing a scarf automatically makes me sick again?” Torque paused mid cut and raised an eyebrow, skeptical but also became defensive, tensing up and gripping Harker’s arm harder than she needed to. 

“I never said that, I was just asking what was going on with yer neck. If it is ‘cause you’re sick again, you’re in so much fucking trouble with me, I swears it.”

“Well, it’s probably what you were thinking,” she mumbled to herself, resuming the design she had planned. It was probably going to take longer than she expected. The rotgut was kind of impairing her steadiness. 

“Listen to me!” Harker grabbed her sister by the shoulders and shook her roughly. “Just listen, I’m fucking serious, Jia, you can’t do this to me!”

“Don’t call me that!” the older twin shoved her sister away roughly, managing to yet again make her hit her injured shoulder against metal. Harker winced, but she was pretty focused on getting answers. 

“Sorry, I know that’s behind us but c’mon, Tor, I-we need to work things out. What’s eatin’ at ya? Why aren’t we as close as we were?”

“You know why.” Torque said darkly, wiping the fresh blood onto a clean cloth. She motioned for Harker to give her back her arm and reluctantly the younger twin did so.

“Not really, no, because you keep failing to tell me exactly what’s been bothering you.”

“Luc and Magnus, War Boys in general, the fighting you do with everyone, god,” Torque waved the knife around in the air as the frustration started to build up in her “You really can’t just...calm down, can you?”

“Okay, one, pretty sure Luc is upset with me, I kind of accidentally killed a friend of his-”

“Sounds so weird hearing it come directly from you.” She returned to finishing up her design.

“Wait, is that why you didn’t want me attracting attention when we left?”

“Duh. Mate, I dunno who you killed but like…I’ve had to keep my head down ever since word got out from the Pits. You’re a wanted man. Also kind of why I agreed to do patrol with you tonight because I knew it would eat at me if I left you in the Blood Shed for too long. It’s dangerous there and scary when you’re alone.”

“Psh. You just missed me wit and charm.” Torque raised an eyebrow at her and the skeptical-ness made her sober a bit. “But okay, yeah, I see yer point.”

“’m sure things’ll calm down in a couple more days.”

“Yeah...Probably should’ve listened to Luc more. He came to talk to me but I didn’t wanna hear what he or any other smeg had to say ‘cause I was pretty upset. At this point I might be able to get to him through Magnus since he seemed not as interested in lecturing me or whatever.”

“What even is yer relationship with these guys?”

“Magnus is a really good friend and Luc swaps paint with both of us-”

“Harker!”

“You asked!”

“Ugh! Spare me the details, please!”

“Fine! It’s not even at the same time, I don’t get why that makes you so grossed out-”

“No, not that, just...I dunno.”

“Look, Luc’s been through a lot with Shaw, and Magnus has been his best friend since forever basically. They’re really close and I ended up kind of, well, not getting in the way, but Luc took interest in me ‘cause he liked me and he also likes having someone else to talk to about...you know what.”

“Wife life?”

“Wife life, exactly. No one else understands what he went through since ya know...that’s not really talked about with War Boys and such.”

“Different culture.”

“We weren’t even supposed to discuss it after being kicked out, yet here we are, running around with a band of angry women ready to dethrone a disgustin' pig.”

“Speakin’ of. Gotta talk to you about that, too.” Finally. She took another clean cloth and began to wrap her sister’s arm with care after wiping down the design with alcohol that wasn’t rotgut just to make sure it was safe. 

“What’s going on?”

“We might be able to get Shelby to get back into the vault.”

“No way!”

“Hold still! She’s the least threatening and incredible when it comes to curing ailments via plants, so she’s thinkin’ of tryna become a nurse or somethin’ along those lines. A nutritionist for the precious treasure Joe keeps locked up, something we probably could have used. And with me bein’ sick and the others having their own reasons as to why they had to leave, it seems feasible that he’d do anything to keep them healthy. ‘specially the new wife. It seems that she hasn’t begun to bleed yet.”

“What about Furiosa?” Harker picked up where Torque had left off in wrapping so that she could go get some food from the back. 

“Vi’s working on it. They’ve had a couple of conversations-”

“I’m not worried about Viper being able to convince her to try again, it’s Travesty. Furiosa might consider Vi’s words but hearing it come from Trav is gonna be the main push.”

“Oh shit you’re right. Should pro’lly ask Vic about it.”

“Or I could ask Trav. Maybe. We’re on slightly better terms now.”

“Wow, you really are different, ain’t ya sis?” Torque cocked her head to side, smirking. “Is she like a mother to you now or what? I thought you can’t stand her, Har.”

“It wouldn’t have been such a big change if ya hadn’t stayed away from me!”

“Yeh, well, shit happens. We good though?” 

“Let me check, but we should be good for shut eye.”

“Actually, let me take first watch. You’ve had a lot of stress today and it’s not good for healing, ‘specially since you wanted a new scar.”

“Eh, okay. Guess you’re right. Wake me up in an hour though, I slept plenty on the way here.”

“Gotcha.”

That was all the confirmation Harker needed before she kind of collapsed into the back, just barely having enough strength to wrap a blanket around her, and it wasn’t long before she was lightly snoring. Torque sighed and got out of the car, taking her time to get up onto the roof. It was close to freezing tonight but she would go sit by the fire in a few. For some reason she just wanted to look up at the stars and not think for awhile. 

As she adjusted herself and got comfy on the roof in the lancer’s perch, she scratched her neck, noting that the bumps were getting harder to ignore, and maybe a tad bit bigger than a couple of weeks ago.

“Well fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been close to 8 months since I last updated, and I'm really sorry about that. I haven't abandoned the story, it's just that a lot happened and I've def neglected it. 
> 
> I think I said I would end this at chapter 50 and im p sure I can still make it to 50 but if it ends sooner then don't be surprised. That doesn't mean that i'm cutting this short because I lost interest, it just means that the story was shorter than I thought it would be :u
> 
> I'm also planning on rewriting basically everything but for now I wanna get this out there :v


	39. Breaktime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shelby and Mirage talk strategy.

Mirage had been learning the ins and outs of farming for a long time now and it was still so hard to grasp the concept, even when Shelby tried to help her wrap her head around how a seed becomes a plant when given the right ingredients. It was especially difficult when Shelby tried her best to explain things. Instead of making terms and steps simpler, she’d start to go more into detail, using words she wasn’t familiar with and working too fast for her to actually see or comprehend what was going on. Whenever she tried to get her to slow down, Shelby would get frustrated with herself for not being able to communicate what she considered to be the basics better. As much as she wanted to stick by her side, it just seemed to be easier to do all of the grunt work and water the greens when needed than try and take care of them any further. At least they were both near each other and since Shelby was in charge now, Mirage could get away with doing almost anything she wanted. At the very least, it kept her from looking out over the edge of the Citadel. 

Every now and then they’d get to spend some quality time with the other girls, fingers lingering close together in silent reassurance in case any anxiety rose up from possible tension. However, it seemed that everyone was all getting along now since it was always nice knowing that your friends were going to be there for you even if time had gone by, and they all felt that with each passing day, making enemies of one another was only going to hold them back from their end goal. Mirage had noticed that Travesty and Harker had seemed to make amends and she’d to smirk her best friend, fully knowing why. 

On a particularly sweltering day that left her feeling more disgusting than usual due to all the sweat and grime that wasn’t due to be washed away any time soon, she was taking a small break from digging by sticking the shovel straight down and then leaned against the handle, casually making small talk with the boy that she was helping out. She didn’t quite catch his name the first time around, and she didn’t feel the need to ask him again, but she knew that he was just barely a War Boy, had been far more interested in learning how to tend to greens than picking fights or working on cars, and now they were both complaining to each other about the weather. Their conversation was cut short when a familiar voice that always made her perk up instantly, rang out in alarm.

“No, no, no! Who showed you how to pack greens, novice? I should wring their necks for allowing such nonsense be taught to others!” Shelby shoved aside the newest Green Thumb recruit to try and rescue the plants that had been mistreated in her eyes. They were all packing for another trade run and as the top Imperator in this area, Shelby was starting to forget how she herself got started when she began working in here. “Do you have any idea how precious plant life is, any idea at all? Go destroy something, preferably unimportant, elsewhere!” 

“Relax Shel, they’re doin’ their best. You used to be new at this too, ya know,” Mirage shrugged her shoulders at the young boy as an apology of sorts, but he had already moved on to packing beets, seeming to be only mildly miffed with the interruption. When she returned her attention to her Imperator, she wasn’t surprised to see Shelby muttering apologies to the greens as she scrambled to repack them, scooping dirt around any exposed roots and taking her canteen of water to damped it again before gently taking the small canvas bag to prep for storage.

“M, I was practically born knowing how to take care of plants. They’re our only hope in staying alive-”

“Along with water,” Mirage stretched so that her arms were extended as far as they could go above her head, her fingers linked together as she tried to soothe the knots that had grown in her upper back and underneath her shoulder blades. She hadn’t meant to interrupt the other, but it was getting to be slightly too hot to be getting worked up over a minor mistake. “Or aqua cola, whatever.”

“That plants need, too!” Shelby’s head whipped around, her long, curly hair making it all the more dramatic. It made Mirage instantly slump because she knew something else was bothering her imperator when she was getting this passionate. “Water is vital for plants to live, we need plants to live, the Immortan isn’t giving us the proper resources to grow them right for mass production! Who does he think he is, restricting water like this?” She returned to finishing up the repairs, hair falling down to obscure her scowling face. “So many are going to go hungry and it’s all his fault! He is nothing without his subjects, how can he keep forgetting that? Kill them all, yes, then we’ll see just how powerful he is. Bloody bastard has no idea what proper moderation even is-” 

“Shel, he’s the Immortan, you work for him now, you know why he does it. And you really need to give these guys a break every once in awhile, they’re not naturals like you are.”

That made Shelby stiffen before she whipped her head around again, looking at Mirage in confusion. “A break? At this time? M, please, you know I can’t allow that, there’s too much at stake as it is, we should be almost done with filling the War Rig and we’re nowhere near finished thanks to all of this slacking around.”

“Yeah, okay well if anything, teach ‘em yerself. Nurture ‘em just like you do with greens. You’re real good at it and they could learn from you, more so than I ever could. We’re hopefully not gonna be here for much longer anyways, might as well make them as good as we can leave them to be.”

“Nurture...War Boys.” The Imperator stood up slowly and surveyed their surroundings, clutching the plant tightly to her chest defensively. All around them, the Green Thumbs were busy gathering up any greens that were ripe for harvesting, hurrying their speed when they noticed her looking. “You cannot be serious, M.”

“Gee, Shel. Maybe you’re the one that needs a break. You’re not sounding like yerself at all.”

“Am I not?”

“Nah.”

“Oh,” a small sigh escaped her lips and she shifted to balance her weight on one hip, avoiding Mirage’s gaze by staring intently at the ground. “Maybe you’re right, M. I don’t know, lately things are just really stressful for me and having this much responsibility over food for hundreds of people in our society as well as our alliances is nerve-wracking beyond belief.” 

Mirage reached out to stop Shelby from scratching her arm. Without the War Paint acting as a barrier, her nails dug into her delicate skin, leaving heavy scratches that were sometimes unconsciously deep enough to break the skin, leaving the forearm bloody and raw. It scared Mirage knowing that she couldn’t do much but try and interfere with the bad habit when she could. Usually she would just offer to help repaint her, but that wasn’t an option anymore.

“What can I do to help? You need it more now than ever, Shel.”

Shelby squinted at the ground, the gears in her head turning as she tried to figure out what she needed help with the most at this time that Mirage could handle. 

“Drink some water from my canteen and prepare to briefly oversee transportation loading on the west side while I go see what I can come up with in our reserves for a side trip later.”

“Does that mean what I think it means?”

Shelby grinned as she finally locked eyes with her lover and winked. 

“Probably. Depends on what I can come up with, M.”

The playfulness in her voice made her shudder with anticipation and Mirage immediately went to follow her orders. She wasn’t sure how long she would be on overseer duty, but she knew the longer it took, the more successful her imperator was going to be with her mission. 

__________

The loading dock was hectic and it kept her busy enough that she didn’t mind the time that went by. It was almost three hours later before Shelby came to relieve her of her temporary duty, and the smile on her face told her everything. She was carrying several packages and Mirage quickly snatched the heavier ones from her to help.

“Whew. Now that that’s completed and to my liking, let’s go visit my mother and then deliver these goods to the girls.” The Imperator led the way back up to where the Milking Mothers were. “I hear The Dag has been asking for more seeds, so I took what I could. Plus I took some other stuff too, but a couple of them are gifts so I can’t tell you what.”

“You’re real sneaky, ya know that, Shel?” Mirage grinned and nudged her with her elbow, earning a soft slap in return. 

“I know. I actually prefer it this way, it feels so much better knowing that only I can report myself for stealing.” 

“Do ya know if you’re gonna try and take on the task of nurse?” Mirage asked, her voice high as she tried to mask the question in subtleness. It didn’t work and Shelby only raised an eyebrow in amusement.

“Full time? No, I couldn’t possibly, M. I need to take care of the greens. No one else is up to par with my skill level and yes, other Imperators and top Green Thumbs can boss around the Boys but...I need to be there. There has to be a balance of some sort. I’m sure I can work something out. As the leading Imperator in nutrition, and as his former wife treating his current wives with extra care so that they stay as healthy as they can be so that their bodies are able to provide him a strong and disease free son, I have all the power here. I was chosen to be an Imperator for a reason and that reason is to make sure others are well fed. He knows his choice in wives is dwindling with each year people are exposed to radiation. He knows, and you know how much I hate saying this but...he knows prized breeders are very rare.”

“Okay, yeah I get that part, love. It’s just that, ya know…you’d be brilliant at getting past Furiosa.”

“Past her?” Shelby scoffed and waved her hand. “There’s no need to get past her, she knows what we’re up to.”

“What?” Mirage stopped dead in her tracks, feeling her stomach sink. That didn’t seem right, and if it was, that meant their plans were in grave danger. She wasn’t sure how she was going to report that information back to Vic or Travesty. What did it mean for everyone? Who was the one who gave it all away?

“Yes, did you forget about Viper? She’s already hinted to her that she wants her son out of here, Furiosa put two and two together, and now she’s hesitant to trust us since there’s too many variables at play here.”

“Furiosa doesn’t trust anyone to begin with,” Mirage mumbled and began walking again, thoughts racing through her head. Was this all for nothing?

“I know, but you know what I mean. Yet can you blame her? How does she know that one of us won’t betray her? How can she tell where our loyalties lie when Viper has been known to let power get to her head, and of course, Vi was his Favorite before Angharad. If anything, she probably thinks this is all a trap. We’re a liability.”

“What do we do then?”

“Convince Travesty that it’s now or never. You’re her best friend, Vic can try and get to her all she wants, but she’s going to need you as a final push, M. Time is running out.”

“I’ll see what I can do...she’s real hesitant, mate, seriously doesn’t know if she can do it.”

“Convince her, M. Incorporate the twins, either set if you have to, but it’s now or never.” Shelby made eye contact with Mirage and held her gaze for as long as she could. “For now I can only gain access for quick checkups when Organic is there to survey anything and I cannot be denied entry if one of them asks for me otherwise. I know I come off as soft and nonthreatening and I intend to keep it that way, but Furiosa knows better. As much as she wants to go back home, she’s not going to risk everything again just because we offer help.”

“...I’ll see what I can do. You think it’s wise Shel, to bring Torque and Harker into this as a push? They’re not gonna like the real reason Travesty’s so hooked on ‘em, ‘specially Harker. Shit, that’ll really strain everythin’.”

“You’d think they’d know by now. However, it seems to be the best course of action if you think Travesty can’t bring herself to talk to Furiosa if it’s just her on the line. Tell her to do it for her kids. Tell her to take the opportunity to give them a better future.”

Well, she would try her best. Travesty probably needed the confidence booster and someone that she really 100% trusted to tell her to get her shit together, or else. 

They arrived at the Milking Mother’s housing not long after and delivered medicine to the ones that needed it, spending some extra time with Shelby’s mother as she was with child and Shelby wanted to check in with her pregnancy progress as she was now in the third trimester. They both got to feel the weak kicks of the future sibling, but they also knew to not get too attached. It was highly likely that it wasn’t going to make it past birth for her mother’s other pregnancies had been primarily to keep her job as a milking mother, and if it did make it, the chances of it being permitted to live if not a boy were slim. Shelby really didn’t want to think too hard about it; it was surreal knowing that she was a survivor of so many things, especially childhood. 

It wasn’t long before the Organic Mechanic also arrived and they took it as their cue to leave, even though it was obvious that Shelby didn’t want to part with her mother quite so soon. After some quite coaxing from Mirage, she let them be, promising her mother to come back to visit in a couple of weeks when she could. 

Next, Mirage accompanied her imperator to the entrance to the large green room that came before the vault, but didn’t dare go any further. She didn’t want to interact with Furiosa at this point and she definitely didn’t want to be interrogated by Rictus in case he was also in there. He might not see Shelby as a threat, but seeing them together might set him on edge. They had tried it once before as Mirage needed to check that the misting pipes were in working order, but it had left her a nervous wreck. The man really knew how to get under her skin as she couldn’t hide the discomfort of being near him for long.

The visit was short and to the point. Furiosa had inspected the goods she was bringing (the ones she was willing to show), escorted her in, let Shelby say a few friendly words to the Wives and then she was escorted out. They were on their way back to their duties in no time. Shelby was always incredibly quiet after her visits with the Wives, and Mirage saw no reason to make her speak, knowing fully well that her imperator was probably reliving some of the past. It was probably why she had planned their get together later that night. She was going to need a lot of time to recover from the experience and Mirage already regretted asking Shelby if she had planned on becoming a personal healer for the Wives. She would make it up to her later, that was for sure. For now, she was given the instructions to finish up her shift and then for talk to Travesty before they would meet up again.


End file.
